


Blood & Water

by PBBWriter



Category: Mayans M.C. (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-11
Updated: 2018-12-11
Packaged: 2019-09-16 01:11:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 24
Words: 41,643
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16944168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PBBWriter/pseuds/PBBWriter
Summary: The Reyes brothers family tree grows more complicated while secrets, lost loves and dangerous promises test the strength of their bonds.





	1. Chapter 1

Hearing the front door open and Angel's heavy footfalls on the hardwood, Carrie's stomach did flip-flops. Still, after all that time, he gave her butterflies.

"What are you making?" He asked, slipping up behind her as she stood in front of the stove swaying.

She smiled to herself, stirring the pot, and glanced over her shoulder at him. "Just a bolognese."

"Thought you were by my dad's shop," he said, his hands gripping her hips and swaying with her, "Thought I saw a couple steaks in the fridge."

"Oh I was and I did but that doesn't mean they're for you," she snickered. "You smell like pennies," Carrie said, shooing him away from her.

"Copper bid today," he said by way of explanation.

"Go shower," she suggested. "It's not ready yet anyway."

Angel kissed her cheek before heading up the stairs, his eyes skimming over the family photos hung on the wall. He stopped to take a longer than usual look at the wedding photo, before hurrying on his way to clean up.

Returning in less than thirty minutes, Angel found Carrie at the dining room table, on the phone, while doodling on a notepad.

"Uh huh," she said absentmindedly. "Sure."

He grabbed two beers from the fridge and sat across from her. "Who?" He scribbled on the page.

"KJ." She jotted down.

His face soured a little as he popped open his beer and took a long swig. The call ended soon after and she pouted a little. "What?"

"Nothing," he said with a harumph. "Visiting mom?"

"Yep," she nodded. "And look, now you have me all to yourself for two days."

"Day and a half," he corrected her seconds before she kissed him. "Got a club thing, came up last minute."

She played it off. "EZ going?"

"Yeah," Angel told her. "Bishop said it's time."

"You agree?"

"I guess," he didn't seem sure. "Why you so interested in my little brother?"

"Once you get too old I can move on to the youngest Reyes."

"Not gonna happen," Angel chuckled. "Kid's still got it bad for Emily, after eight damn years," he shook his head.

"That's not too crazy," Carrie laughed. "Shit, I had a crush on you for years before we first hooked up."

"What was that, Christmas? 12 years ago?"

"Thanksgiving," she corrected him. "Right after I got engaged, your mom invited us."

"Mom," he said wistfully. "She pulled every distant relative down here from all over."

"She did," Carrie smiled, remembering Angel's mother fondly. "I miss her."

"Me too," he said, his expression changing quickly. "I'm fucking starving," Angel said, switching the subject as quickly as possible.

"We're eating soon," she assured him.

"You keep saying that but I'm still sitting here waiting and hungry," he joked, pulling her down to his lap. "You picked the wrong cousin, amada mía," Angel whispered, almost mournfully, before kissing her.

—

The weekend ended too quickly and before Carrie knew it Monday was just a few hours away. She was asleep, at least that was what she wanted him to believe when her husband returned home with their son. Angel was gone, out on his run, but there was still a twinge of anxiety when Kevin came home. Had she cleaned up well enough? Were there any remnants of her weekend with Angel? Would her husband know?

"Hey," he gently shook her. "Carrie."

"What?" She grumbled.

"I'm home."

"Okay," Carrie said sleepily

"Anyone come by this weekend?"

She rolled over, her forehead creased as her concern grew. "No, why?"

"Just checking," he shrugged.

Carrie sat up. "Baby in his crib?"

"Yeah, he didn't even notice when I got him out of the car," he explained.

Carrie nodded. "He's a good sleeper, I'm not surprised. I'm gonna go see him." She tiptoed down the hall to the nursery and scooped the baby out of his bed. Sitting in the glider, Carrie cuddled him close and rocked back and forth, not moving from the spot until the sun rose hours later.

\--

"I'm meeting a client for lunch," Carrie said as the passed the office receptionist.

"Okay," the woman said. "Have a good one."

Carrie didn't go to lunch. She went down to Santo Padre to meet with Felipe and EZ at the butcher shop. She beat EZ there, as usual, so she and Felipe chatted as casually as possible until the youngest Reyes arrived.

"Kevin is anxious," Carrie said immediately after they said their hellos.  "Why?"

EZ looked at his dad who grumbled something in Spanish but left them alone to talk. "We had a protection run a couple nights ago, got hit, lost everything. Galindo is pissed."

"Does he know?"

"No, but he knows something is happening," EZ explained. "I tell him as little as possible until I have to."

"Keep it that way," Carrie sighed. "When he mentioned this deal I knew it was a bad idea. He's not a bad man, EZ, but the bureaucracy, other agencies, and his bosses are a different breed. It's not fair."

"You think I don't know that?" EZ scoffed. "Look what they did to me!"

"I know," she stammered quickly. "Just please, be careful."

EZ nodded. "He know you're doing this?"

"Which he?" She asked, frowning.

"You know what, I don't want to know," EZ sighed.

The sound of a Harley brought Felipe out from the back. "How are we going to explain this?" He asked, gesturing toward the door as Angel swung it open.

"This a family reunion?" Angel asked with an overly dramatic huff. "Shit I knew I was the odd one but this hurts," Angel joked. He sauntered by Carrie with a smile to greet his father.

"I should go," Carrie hurried toward the door.

"You ain't getting anything?" Angel asked, looking at her questioningly.

Carrie stopped and turned. "Thank you, Angel, I almost forgot."

"The roast?" Felipe said, already opening the refrigerated case.

"Please," Carrie said with a polite smile.

Angel and EZ said their goodbyes in passing and quickly left the shop. EZ noticed Angel's stare and wondered nervously if he was suspicious of Carrie's visit to the shop. Had EZ been aware of the years long affair he'd know Angel was suspicious but not for any reason that had to do with his little brother.

"Can't believe she married Kevin," Angel remarked as he got on his bike and turned the throttle.

"Her dad did a lot of time," EZ mused. "Maybe she wanted the opposite."

"Yeah maybe," Angel shrugged and chuckled. "Chicks man, who knows?"


	2. Chapter 2

The steaks Angel saw in the fridge when he was there last were purchased by Kevin, as a cover when we was meeting with Felipe, and they were on the table for dinner Tuesday night. She couldn't tell Angel her DEA agent husband had purchased them, that he'd been around the shop with Felipe and EZ, so she lied and she hated it. 

"How was work?" Carrie asked Kevin, hoping for some information.

"Fine." He was abruptly. "Stressful."

"Need some outside eyes or ears?" Carrie offered. "I can listen, Kevin."

Looking up from his plate he forced a smile for her. "It's too much."

"Is it your cousin?" She asked boldly. "Ezekiel?"

"I'm scared for him, Car," Kevin sighed. "He needed to get out, the deal was the right thing for him to do, but they're losing patience."

Placing her knife and fork down she leaned her chin on her hands and looked at her husband. "What does that mean?"

"They want more, faster, and if they don't get it," Kevin sighed. 

"They'll break the deal?" She asked, truly surprised.

"Yeah," he huffed. "They gotta use something to get more and if he doesn't bring it there has to be consequences."

"What would happen if they did that? If they broke the deal?"

Kevin pushed his plate away. "EZ goes back in, they figure out he made a deal to get out in the first place."

"And he's at risk," she sighed heavily. "Right?"

"Yeah," Kevin looked truly distraught. "We weren't close for years but when we were younger, you remember, his mom and my dad got everyone together all the time. He's a good kid, I was just trying to get him some of his fucking future back, he doesn't deserve this shit."

Carrie listened intently, agreeing and nodding along with him. "I know, honey, I'm sorry. I remember all the holidays and parties." It was her father-in-law and Angel's mother that inadvertently helped Carrie and Angel fall in love, she remembered every family occasion for that reason.

"When I was promoted, I stopped going around, I knew better with Angel and the club, but they're family, they're blood."

"You'll figure it out," she said with a sad smile. "You always do."

Kevin nodded and, although he pulled his plate closer again, he didn't eat he just picked at his food. Carrie let him stew, instead turning her attention to her son who sat happily in the highchair with a few toys. 

"I'll clean up," Kevin said, leaving the table with his plate. "I need the quiet."

"Okay," she handed him her plate. "I'm going to take the baby out for a short walk. He always sleeps longer when he gets fresh air before bed."

"I'm sorry," he said sadly. "This isn't fair to you, or to Joey," Kevin said as he stroked the child's curls. "I don't want to turn into my old man."

"Then don't," she said quietly. "Maybe you should leave the DEA, you could practice law again, Kevin."

"I have to see this through," he said and Carrie knew he did. "I get EZ out the other side of this and then I'm done."

Carrie nodded and kissed his cheek, "I'd like that." And she would, that was not a lie. As much as she loved Angel she loved her husband as well and she was a realistic woman, she knew where her future was and it was not as an old lady with the MC.

Getting Joey in his coach she strolled the neighborhood, lost in her own thoughts about EZ now, and decide to call him. It only rang twice before he answered. 

"Hey," EZ said quietly. 

"You're with the MC aren't you?"

"Yeah," EZ said. 

Carrie huffed. "Okay, uh, we can talk later."

"Everything okay?"

"Yeah," she laughed ruefully. "As okay as it ever is," Carrie added. 

There was a moment of silence before EZ spoke again. "Why are you doing this?"

"You know, I don't think I really thought about it, I just acted and now I'm in this shit with you. I've seen people get burned before, I've seen him afterward, the guilt when one of them died, I didn't want that to happen to you, I don't want it to happen to you. You're a good kid."

"Kid?" EZ laughed. "We're the same age."

"I'm used to Kevin describing you like that," she laughed. "I just don't want anything to happen to you. I still consider you guys family."

"I forget that," EZ sighed. "Sometimes feels like another lifetime."

"It does, high school, college, all that shit," she sighed. 

"Thanks," EZ said with a sad smile. "I gotta go. We'll catch up."

"Yep, be careful," she said, ending the call. With her attention no longer occupied by the conversation she sensed someone behind her. Carrie glanced back to see Kevin a few feet behind her. "Hi," she said anxiously. 

"Who was that?"

"A friend," she was clearly flustered. 

"You gotta wait til you're out, this far from home, to call your friend?"

"Kevin," she laughed, "You're being ridiculous."

"Who was it?" He was angrier now. "Was it EZ?"

"No," she stomped her foot. "Why would I be calling your cousin?"

"I don't know," he shrugged. "What friend do you have to tell to be careful?"

Kevin took a step back and cocked his head to the side. "Are you cheating on me?"

"Jesus Kevin," she snapped. "Can we not deal with your paranoia here?"

"I'm NOT paranoid."

Carrie nodded. "Fine. Let's just go home, we can talk there." When she started to walk toward him on her way back to the house, Kevinsnatched her phone from her hand. "Hey!"

He called the last number dialed and put it on speaker. It rang and rang as she tried to grab the phone back. No one answered and eventually the generic automated voicemail picked up. 

"You piece of shit," she hissed. "Happy now?"

"If you're calling EZ, if you're trying to help, you're only gonna get him killed, Carrie," Kevin warned her. "I know we were all close, I know you were upset when he got locked up, but this isn't how you help him now."

"Give me my phone," she growled. 

"Excuse me," a patrol car rolled up beside them. "Everything okay here?"

"Fine officer," Kevin grumbled. 

The cop looked at Carrie. "Ma'am?"

"We're fine," she said, mortified and upset. 

Kevin leaned into the officer's car, badge in hand, to help persuade him to leave but smell from the beer he had with dinner and the two shots he had after Carrie left only made the situation worse. 

"You been drinking, Agent Jimenez?"

"Jesus Christ," Carrie hissed. "We're alright, Officer. He's fine, just dumb and stressed. I'll take him home."

"Don't make me come back out here tonight," he warned Kevin. 

The officer coasted behind them halfway home before turning at a corner and disappearing into a busy intersection. 

"You're an asshole," Carrie muttered when they were alone. 

"I'll find somewhere to stay tonight," he offered. 

"No," she huffed. "If you wanna drink yourself into oblivion you should do it at home so at least you're safe."

"Where will you go?"

Carrie looked at him and sighed heavily. "I can't leave the baby with you and I don't know where I could take him. At least don't start drinking until you get somewhere safe."

"I'm sorry," he said, his voice weaker now. "I'm losing it." 

"You don't say," she snapped. "Just go, Kevin. We'll talk tomorrow."

Carrie started walking faster to put more space between her and Kevin and got home a good five minutes before him. He walked in the house, grabbed a few things and left again. 

—

"You good?"  Angel asked his brother after noticing his spaced out expression. 

"I'm good," he said with a weak chuckle. "Tired."

"Wild coupla days," Angel laughed. "I think I'm gonna head out."

"Yeah, me too," EZ said, standing up from his spot. 

"I'll see you in the AM, hermanito."

When Angel arrived home he dragged his sleepy self to the front door with his keys in his hand. Before he could even unlock the door he heard a tiny voice from the sidewalk. 

"Angel?"

He turned to see Carrie on the curb. "What are you doing here?"

Rolling her eyes she whimpered. "Got in a fight with Kevin."

"You alright?" He asked, coming back down the front steps to meet her. 

"I am," she sighed. "He left I just needed to take a drive and I uhh, I ended up here."

"He get outta hand?"

"No, he was fine, just miserable and paranoid."

Angel nodded, it was pretty typical he figured. "Where's the baby?"

"My car," she pointed to the SUV. A few feet away from where she stood. "He's sleeping."

"Come on," he said, "Grab him, let's get inside before someone sees you."

"I was worried you'd come home with some random girl," Carrie said as he grabbed the pack and play from her trunk. 

"Too tired for that shit," he laughed. 

"You sure this is okay?" She asked again. "The baby and all?"

"You needed somewhere to go, I'm just glad you came to me," he smiled sweetly as he spoke to her. 

Carrie nodded and followed him in, her sleeping son in her arms, trying to push down the guilt. Lately she felt worse and worse about the affair and all the secrets she kept from him and Kevin on a daily basis. 

"What was it about?"

"The fight?" She shrugged, hoping she didn't start to cry. "He's stressed and work is getting too be too much for him. He just kind of went off the deep in but a neighbor saw and called the cops and," she shook her head and wipes a few tears away. "Everything is a fucking mess."

"Tell me about it, baby," he huffed. 

"Glad we can be each other's distraction," she smiled a little, seeing the baby was settled, and curled up on the couch. 

"Distraction, one that got away, love of my life," he said in a lighthearted tone. "Whatever you wanna call it."

Carrie's cheeks flushed red. "Shut up. Can I grab a beer?"

"Yeah," he kicked his shoes off. "Grab me one too."

As she disappeared into the kitchen one of their phones lit up on the coffee table. He leaned forward to see whose it was, not his, when he noticed the number. It was a text to Carrie from a number she hadn't saved in her phone but clearly they'd communicated before. 

"Sorry I missed your call. Everything okay?"

Angel couldn't help but wonder who it was and why she had called him or her before coming to him. He didn't like feeling jealous, it wasn't a feeling he usually dealt with. Angel was secure in his relationship with Carrie, until now. He was about to type the number into his phone when he heard the fridge shut. Turning both phones over again he sat back against the couch and once Carrie say beside him again he draped his arm over her shoulders. 

"No one is gonna come by, right?"

"Nah," he pulled her closer. "Just us tonight."

—


	3. Chapter 3

Sleepily rubbing his eyes, Angel bumbled out of his bedroom in his boxer briefs, looking for Carrie. He found her on the couch, in one of his T-shirts, feeding Joey his first bottle of the day. 

"Sorry," she said while stifling a yawn. "Did we wake you?"

"Nah," he grunted and cleared his throat. "I rolled over and you weren't there." Angel snapped his fingers, "Then I was just up."

"That sucks, sorry," she laughed. 

Angel shrugged and dragged his feet into the kitchen. "You made coffee."

"I did, I was dying," she explained. "Do you have to be out early?"

"I got some time," he said, sitting by her with a cup of coffee and a bowl of cereal. "You gonna go home?"

"I have to," she huffed. 

"What are you gonna do?" Angel asked her with a more serious tone. 

Carrie chewed on the inside of her lip. "What do you mean?"

"Are ya gonna leave him?" Angel asked bluntly. "Ya ain't exactly happily married, Carrie."

"It'll get better," she said quickly. 

Angel looked at her and laughed. "Even when it was you were still coming around."

"I don't know what I'm doing," she admitted. "Right now work is suffocating him. He closes this case and maybe we'll get our own stuff together, I don't really know."

He nodded, slightly somber, and quietly shoveled his cereal into his mouth. Carrie watched him, Joey having fallen back to sleep in her arms, until her eyelids grew heavy. 

"Go back to bed," Angel said, gently scooping the baby out of her arms and placing him back in the pack and play. 

—

On his way out the door that morning Felipe's found Kevin on his porch, awake but incredibly drunk, still sipping from a bottle. 

"Breakfast of champions," Felipe grumbled. "Going into work like that?"

"I took a few days," he slurred. 

"Come on," Felipe waved him into the house. "Your wife know where you are?"

"No," he huffed. "She kicked me out."

"And you came here, I'll have to thank her for that," Felipe joked dryly. 

Kevin passed out on the sofa within minutes so Felipe went about his daily business after calling his weekend worker in to open that day. 

While Felipe waited for Kevin to sober up, his eldest son pined for Kevin's wife as she snored softly into his pillows. EZ pulled up out front, startling Angel, and knocked on the door. 

"Imma be right out," Angel hollered to EZ. 

"Let me in," EZ replied, pulling at the door. He saw Carrie's SUV, he knew she was there, and Angel's behavior only made it more obvious. 

"Nah man," he opened the door an inch. "Unless you wanna see my dick gimmie a minute."

EZ sighed heavily once Angel shut the door again. He wasn't nervous, he trusted Carrie and knew even if she were to tell Angel he wouldn't go to Bishop, at least not without talking to him first. 

"I gotta go, mi dulce," he whispered into her hair after pulling his clothes on quickly. 

"Mmm," she smiled sleepily at him. "Have a good day, be careful."

Angel smiled and kissed her cheek before slipping out the house. "Sorry, long night."

"Yeah," EZ laughed. "I'm sure." He glanced back at the house before shaking the thought from his head. He had other things to focus on until he could call Carrie. 

"Bish send you?"

"Yeah, they need you in Templo."

Angel nodded and the brothers sped off toward the scrap yard to start their day, both with the same woman on their minds. 

—

Long after lunch Felipe was growing impatient. He harshly woke Kevin and handed him a mug of strong, black coffee. He drank half a cup before they moved to the kitchen table to have a much needed discussion. 

"What happened?"

"EZ has to get me something," Kevin said darkly. 

"He's giving you what you wanted, the tapes, the notes," Felipe argued. "What more do they want?"

"They want Emily," Kevin admitted. "He'll never agree to try flip her."

"And you're carrying all that heat," Felipe said. "And your wife is feeling it."

Kevin nodded, although it wasn't that simple. 

"You can't crack," Felipe said firmly. "You slip and my son gets hurts, if my son gets hurt your son gets hurt."

"What?" Those words did more to sober Kevin up than all the coffee and water in the world. "You would hurt my family?"

"I don't underestimate any man's capacity for despicable acts." 

Kevin stared at Felipe, shocked by the usually peaceful man's sudden dark turn. "I should go."

"You should," Felipe said, getting up from the table. "You can see yourself out."

\--

That evening, when she should have been on her way home from work, Carrie parked and let EZ in the passenger side. She offered him a cookie from the pack she picked up earlier but he declined with a chuckle. 

"You okay?"

"Me?" She laughed. "I'm fine. Sorry about last night, that call was...an accident."

"Yeah," he dismissed it. "What's going on? You said we had to talk?"

"You know," she sighed heavily. "I think I need to take a step back from this."

"Why?" EZ turned his body toward her. "This got anything to do with my brother?"

"Your brother?" She asked with wide eyes. "What are you talking about?"

"I know you were at his place this morning," EZ explained. "I saw your car, I know your plates." He watched as she closed her eyes, knowing there was no denying it. "So how about we both share a little?"

Carrie swallowed hard and nodded. "Who goes first?"

"You," EZ said sadly. "What were you doing at Angel's?"

"Angel and I have been," she paused, "Uh, some type of together for the last 8 years."

"What?" He had never expected that, ever, and his look of utter shock was proof enough. "You and Angel? How?"

"It's your turn," she said forcefully. "How often do you see Emily?"

"Why do you wanna know about Emily?" He was angry now, defensive. 

"Kevin and I got into it last night," she sighed. "Which is why I ended up at Angel's. When I got home he was still gone but his work stuff was there, I don't know where the hell he was, but I did some snooping. They want you to push Emily to turn."

"No," he said adamantly. "It's too dangerous, besides she wouldn't, she's been nothing but loyal to him."

"I figured," she huffed. "Something is gonna have to give, though, EZ and I'm scared of what that might be."

"Galindo's kid was taken," he said sadly. "Next time I meet with Jimenez I'll give him that, see if it doesn't buy some time or some fucking breathing room."

"The baby?" Carrie asked, appalled by the news. "My god."

"Yeah, The Rebels keeping upping their game." They say in contemplative silence for a minute. "8 years?" EZ said suddenly, still trying to make sense of it.

"Yeah," she pursed her lips. "I mean, technically it's 12."

"What?" EZ gasped, looking at her with wide eyes and his mouth hanging open. "He can't keep secrets, he tells me every time he takes a shit."

"This is a little bit different," she rolled her eyes. "When I first started coming around there were the looks and then," she smiled to herself. "We uhh, hooked up then Kevin took the job with the DEA and so he put space there, he knew it would be the best thing because of Angel and the club."

"Okay, that doesn't really explain anything," he huffed. 

Carrie shifted awkwardly in her seat. "Your mom died and then you went away and we...reconnected."

"I'm glad I could help," he said sarcastically. 

"Shut up," she laughed. "We started hanging out after we saw each other at the funeral and then one thing lead to another and," she shrugged. "I had such a crush on him back in the day and then we had sex and," she whistled.

"I don't need these details," he cringed. 

"I'm not awful," she said seriously. "I'm not, but I love Angel, so much, it's just not exactly easy to up and leave."

"It is that easy," EZ said sagely. 

"You know it's not," she whimpered. "I don't think I can really give you anymore insider tips, he's on edge and he almost caught me on the phone with you last night. Between meeting with you and seeing Angel, it's getting risky."

"You'd rather dump me than my brother, huh?"

"Uh yeah, definitely," she laughed. "If he tells me something huge, I'll call you but I think for now we should step away."

"I'm sure I'll still see ya," he smirked. "I'm glad you're happy, though, even if it is fucked up."

"Thanks," she smiled sweetly. "I really gotta go. Don't tell Angel I told you, just play dumb...if that's possible for you."

"Thank you, Carrie," he said softly with a kind smile. "I know you didn't have to reach out but I really appreciate it."

She gave him a crooked smile and shrugged. "Wish I coulda done more to help."

Her phone buzzed on the console. It was a text from Kevin.

"Where are you? Are you safe? We need to talk."

"I have to go," she grumbled. "See ya around."


	4. Chapter 4

Carrie raced to pick up Joey from daycare then straight home to find Kevin waiting for her at the dining room table. He was clearly troubled and exhausted, she could see the bags under his eyes when he looked up at her.

"Sorry," she sighed. "I got caught up talking to another mom at daycare, that's when I got your message. What's going on?" She asked softly, feeling more sympathy for him than she had recently.

"I think you should take Joey up to visit your sister," he said, shutting his laptop. "Just for a week or so," he shrugged.

"A week?" She laughed a little, looking at him through squinted eyes. "Kev, I have work and a life. What happened? Why are you doing this?"

He cleared his throat, "Uh, things are getting tense."

"Things have been tense," she huffed.

Kevin shook his head. "I don't mean with us."

Carrie swallowed hard and nodded. Putting the baby in his play area she joined her husband at the table, sitting to Kevin's left. "Talk to me, please. I know we're struggling right now but we used to be able to talk."

"I'm worried about you and the baby," he admitted quickly. "If things go off the rails we're dealing with people who cross lines every single day. They wouldn't flinch," he said, his eyes moving from hers to Joey as he laughed and played.

Carrie drew her head back. "The cartel?" She spoke, her voice quivering, and took his hand. "Are we in danger, Kevin?"

"Not the cartel," he said, squeezing her hands. "But putting some distance between you and Santo Padre would be good."

Her eyes flicked up as she tried to figure out who else would possibly be a threat to their family. "Is it the club?"

"No," Kevin shook his head. "The cartel and the MC are still in the dark."

"You're scaring me," she whispered.

He nodded. "I'm sorry but sometimes you need a push to listen to me. That doesn't mean it's not true, though. I want you to go, Carolyn, I'm just not sugarcoating it."

"Carolyn," she inhaled sharply. "Using my full name, that means you're serious, which means you're scared too."

"A little bit," he said shamefully. "I'm sorry about last night," he hung his head.

"Don't be." She hated when he was sweet and kind, it made her hate herself exponentially more. "We're both on edge."

"I love you," he said sweetly.

Nodding, biting the inside of her cheek as she always did when she was anxious or uncomfortable, Carrie opened her arms for a hug. "I love you too," she whimpered. "I'm going to go pack some stuff. Play with the baby, you hardly see him as is."

Carrie went upstairs to their bedroom and did pack a bag, with every intention of taking Kevin's suggestion and going to visit her sister, until she saw his personal phone on the nightstand. She knew she shouldn't snoop but the mystery of who could be a threat was too great to do the respectful thing. Carrie grabbed his phone and began skimming through his calls and emails then his text messages. She saw one from Felipe, it was a photo of her and Joey from a few days before as she was picking him up from daycare.

"Fuck," she hissed. "Would he?" She asked herself quietly. "It's Felipe, he wouldn't." Carrie thought on it for a moment, knowing how much Felipe loved his sons, especially EZ, and realized he would do anything for his kids, just like she would do anything for Joey. Bouncing down the stairs she grabbed her keys off the hook.

"What's up?"

"I have no run to the store," she huffed. "I need to grab my prescription and some tampons. Need anything?"

"I'm good," he said, still somber but cheering up slightly. "Be careful."

"I will," she blew them both a kiss and hurried out the door.

\--

"Angel," EZ yelled out the door of his trailer when he saw his brother returning to the yard. "Got a minute?"

Angel looked up, a slightly goofy look of surprise on his face, and nodded. Closing the door after him, Angel took a beer from the mini-fridge and leaned against the wall. "What's up?"

"This morning, when I came by your house, I saw Carrie's car out front."

Angel choked a bit on his beer. "Carrie?"

"Jimenez," he said. "Kevin's wife."

"Oh," he laughed, "Carrie, yeah. You saw her car? You sure?"

EZ just looked at Angel not needing to say anything more than what his expression was already conveying.

Angel huffed, fiddling with his beer bottle. "Yeah, you're always sure," he said with annoyance

"Are you sleeping with our cousin's wife?"

"Second cousin," Angel harshly corrected EZ. "And yeah, I am."

"Jesus Christ," EZ said with a mix of amusement and annoyance. "You're out of your league and asking for trouble."

"I know," he sighed. "Shit I knew from the beginning."

"When was the beginning?" EZ wanted as much information as he could get but also hearing the facts from Angel meant he couldn't slip with a detail only she'd told him.

"This time?" Angel laughed. "Shit I hit that the first time forever ago. It was random meetups a couple times a year for a while then I guess we got uhh, serious, 'bout two years ago."

"How do you get serious with a married woman?" EZ was growing more intrigued by the relationship the more he talked to Angel about it. The shock had worn off with Carrie but now he wanted to know how Angel felt and how this possibly complicated his work with the DEA.

"I dunno," Angel shrugged. "See her a couple times a month, talk a couple times a week."

"Do you love her?"

Angel rolled his jaw. "Yeah, I do but no one can know about her, EZ. Not Pop or the club, it's just too messy and it puts her in a shitty spot."

EX nodded. "Sorry, man."

"Yeah, me too," Angel grumbled. "Shoulda told her not to marry that asshole back when I had the chance."

"Really?" EZ laughed a little. He knew his brother had heart, lots of it, and he loved hard but it still seemed surprising. "Shit, you really do love her."

"If I didn't I wouldn't still be dealing with it," he admitted. "We don't have the best situation."

"She gonna leave him?" EZ asked, his concern for Jimenez's mental state bleeding into his own issues now.

"I never asked," he said pitifully. "I don't think she realizes I even want that."

EZ nodded, unsure what way to go with the conversation. "She probably thinks you're getting it somewhere else, you should tell her she's the only one you could talk into bed," he laughed.

"Yeah, why don't you go jerk it to your high school sweetheart," Angel teased.

"We're really battin' a thousand," EZ sighed.

"At least I'm getting laid," Angel chuckled. "You think I'm an idiot?"

"No," EZ said with a small shrug. "I know you, Angel. You're loyal and you got a huge heart, if you love her, you love her."

"If the club finds out about her, about Kevin," he shook his head, "Could be bad. I should tell Bish, it looks shady and it's better to lay it out now."

"Probably," EZ wasn't sure if telling Bishop would bring too much attention and that made him nervous. "Maybe it would just give everyone a headache."

Talking it out quelled some anxieties but made some worse and even brought new ones to the surface.

"I gotta," Angel said bouncing on the balls of his feet. "It'll cover everyone if shit ever gets out."

EZ closed his eyes slowly. It was a bad idea but it wasn't the only risk being taken that evening. Carrie walked slowly up the steps to Felipe's house with her stomach in knots. He was sitting on the porch, a beer in his hand, looking calmly at her.

"I just got rid of your husband. Will I be having another overnight guest?"

Carrie shook her head. "He was here?"

"Yes, and he was very drunk," Felipe told her. "Now what can I do for you?"

"Kevin is sending me away," she told him. "He thinks it's getting dangerous here for me and my son. What do you think?"

"I think your husband is a smart, cautious man, who is in over his head."

"We agree on that," she huffed. "Did you threaten me and my son, Uncle?"

"I will do what I have to," he said matter of factly.

She nodded, her face dark, as she walked closer to him. "You do something to me and Joseph, you're going to be doing more than hurting Kevin, you're going to be hurting your own flesh and blood...so don't."

Felipe looked at her, taking in her words, and as she turned to leave a heavy realization smacked him on the head.

"Joey?"

She stopped, her back still to him, and nodded.

"Does Angel know?"

Carrie shook her head.

"That's something you should share," Felipe said as he stood up.

"Am I awful?"

"If you're awful," he said, as he laid his hand on her shoulder and gave her a comforting and supportive squeeze, "Than there are no words for what I am. You tell Angel the truth, fathers and sons deserve to know each other."


	5. *Flashback - Roughly 12 Years Before*

"You gotta light?"

Carrie looked over to see a tall Hispanic man looking at her expectantly. She nodded, "Oh   
yeah," then proceeded to struggle to grab her Zippo from her jeans, and finally handed it over.

"Hope it was worth the wait," she joked, hoping to cover her embarrassment.

The man nodded and let out a little chuckle. "I'm Angel."

"Carrie," she smiled. "I went to high school with Ezekiel. You're his older brother, right?"

"Older and cooler," he laughed at his own joke. "You're here with Kevin?"

"I am," she said with a shrug.

"He's a little old for you," Angel remarked.

"Is he the older, cooler cousin?" She teased.

"Older but not cooler," Angel quipped.

"I'll be the judge of that." Carrie smiled, looking down at the ground, and continued to smoke her cigarette. "Do you guys do this a lot?" She gestured back to the house where the party continued without them.

"No," he laughed. "My mom is always trying to get everyone together, this one finally worked out."

"Well, I'm glad I could come."

Angel smiled and nodded, wanting to make a joke about the differences in their cultures but he didn't, he just smiled and kept his eyes on hers. "You and him doing anything after?"

"Me and Kevin?" She asked, slightly surprised.

"Yeah," he nodded.

"I don't know," she shrugged. "We're not super serious or anything, so it's all kind of casual."

"But you're meeting the family?" He said, sliding closer to her.

"He's persuasive," she laughed, eyeing him carefully.

"Guess bein' in law school will do that," he remarked.

"Oh my god," she gasped, "He lawyered me into dating him!" Carrie laughed.

"Only thing that makes sense," Angel winked at her.

"So what do you do Angel?"

Angel shrugged, "Little of this."

"Little of smoking in the backyard with random girls?"

"Something like that," he replied casually.

His attitude was tickling a part of Carrie she knew would get her in trouble. He was a bad boy, she could feel it, and bad boys were never a good idea.

"You asked what I'm doing after this, so is there anything going on?"

"An after party?"

She laughed and nodded. "Yeah, I guess you could call it that."

"No," he looked at her, "But I'm sure we could find something."

Carrie smirked and nodded, taking the last drag of her cigarette. "I'll ask Kevin, come grab us before you leave and we'll talk."

"Alright," he watched as he flicked her cigarette over the fence. "Won't be too long," Angel added as she opened the back door.

Carrie nodded and gave him a little wave before stepping into the house again. She wore a polite smile as she passed Kevin's family members while awkwardly looking for him.

"Hey," Kevin said to her from the steps, leaning over the banister. "I was looking for you."

"I went out back," she said apologetically. "I was talking to your cousin, we were thinking of meeting up after this. Interested?"

"Nah," he said quickly. "Unless you want to?"

Carrie shrugged, "It would be fun."

"I got that paper," he huffed. "Or else I would."

"Okay," she frowned, slightly disappointed. "Law school is a bummer. You shoulda just gotten your bachelors and been done with school. You're too old for papers."

Kevin laughed. "Can't quit now."

"Do you mind if I go?" She asked him when he made his way off the steps.

"With my cousin?"

"Yeah, maybe EZ and Emily too," she shrugged.

"Is Emily even 21?"

Carrie rolled her eyes.

"I don't mind," he said kissing her cheek. "When are you going?"

"I don't know, he said he'd find me." She sat, examining her manicure for a few minutes before speaking again. "Can you come for, like, one drink?" She pouted a little. "I wanna hang out but I don't even know them that well. It's weird without you, we can just go for a little bit."

"One beer," he said. "Then I gotta leave."

"Thank you," she beamed.

Kevin and Carrie sat together, huddled in a corner, for rest of the evening until Angel and EZ found them.

"You coming?" Angel asked Kevin.

"I have to finish a paper," he complained, "But I'll hang out for beer or two. You coming, Ezekiel?"

"I am but not Em," EZ explained.

"Come on," Angel said with a clap. "Let's get outta here before they try to make us stay."

The group met up at the local bar and ordered a round of beers. They chatted politely, Carrie keeping mostly to herself as EZ, Kevin and Angel laughed together over weird childhood memories. It seemed like they didn't spend too much time together but enjoyed themselves when the opportunity presented itself.

"Kevin," EZ said, suddenly standing. "Darts?"  
Carrie looked surprised, and anxious when Kevin agree and left her alone without a word. She watched longingly as they strolled to the back of the bar. She didn't notice Angel slid over closer to her.

"Hey," he said over the music.

"Hi," she smiled. "Is EZ good?" Carrie asked, gesturing to him and Kevin.

"Yeah," Angel laughed. "He's competitive too, so this should be fun."

Carrie glanced at him and smiled, his goofy expression endearing the strange, and certainly dangerous, man to her.

"Kevin is the worst with that shit," Carrie laughed.

"Yeah, he's basically the worst with everything," Angel joked.

Carrie turned her body toward him slightly. "So, for real, what do you do? Are you in school?"

Angel laughed at that and shook his head. "Nah, no school for me. I let my baby brother have that spotlight. What are you in school for?"

"Don't laugh," she said anxiously, "I'm majoring in accounting."

"Shit," Angel did laugh at her. "And I thought you and Kev we're a bad match, guess I was wrong."

"Did you?" She asked, drawing her head back to take a good look at him.

"That was a joke," he shrugged, "But yeah," he laughed.

"That's the general consensus."

"That's a red flag," Angel took a sip of his beer.

Carrie shrugged. "I used to be a bit of... an irresponsible girl. My dad got locked up and I got scared, everyone told me I was so much like him then suddenly hes in federal prison. I don't want to go to federal prison, so I felt like I needed to button up. Hence the boring major and not drinking much anymore."

"And Kevin?" Angel asked with a smug grin.

"He is safe, yes, but he's sweet too," she stuck her tongue out at Angel. "Be nice, he's the kind of man who would bail you out for some dumb shit."

"Did he bail you out for some dumb shit?" Angel asked with a loud booming voice.

"No," she said adamantly.

"You're lying," Angel snapped his fingers and pointed at her. "That's how you met, ain't it?"

"You suck," she said petulantly. "We met through mutual friends...but yeah, he helped me out of a jam once...or maybe even twice."

The more they drank the more comfortable Carrie was with Angel. They talked while Kevin and EZ played darts but once the game was over, Kevin was ready to leave. He made his way over, sulking over his loss, and took Carrie's hand.

"Are you ready?"

"Huh?" She looked away from Angel, her cheeks red from laughing and shook her head. "One more beer?"

Kevin checked the time. "I can't," he sighed.

"Okay," she frowned. "Guess it's that time."

"I can take her home," Angel suggested. "I gotta drive EZ back anyway."

"You good with that?" Kevin asked her, whispering in her ear.

Carrie nodded, "I am. They're great and I never get out.

"Alright," he said, kissing her cheek. "Give me a call and I can come pick up you."

"I got her," Angel said. "I gotta drive EZ anyway."

Kevin looked at Angel suspiciously. "You're wasted, cousin."

"Nah I'm good," he said confidently. "Lemme get some water and I'll be great."

Kevin nodded and whispered to Carrie. "If he's too drunk, call me. If not, let me know you got home okay and I'll call you tomorrow."

—

"Another!" Carrie said, smashing her shot glass down on the bar. "Come on!"

"Kevin said she wasn't a big drinker," EZ said to Angel with a look of surprise.

"Kevin doesn't know Carrie," Angel laughed as he slapped down some cash for another round of shots.

Between drinks, the trio talked, laughed and had a genuinely good time. EZ and Carrie weren't used to it, school took up much of their free time, but Angel enjoyed evenings like these often. The company was different this time, hanging out with his brother was fun but Carrie was, something special he couldn't pinpoint.

"I miss this," Carrie slurred. "Ever since my dad went to prison I had to like, be this proper bitch."

"You know you repeat yourself a lot when you're drunk," Angel said, his words running together.

"It's whatever," she groaned.

They only really drank for about an hour after Kevin left before EZ tapped out. "I'm ready to get outta here."

Glancing at her phone she slipped off her seat, shocked by the time, but caught herself at the last moment. "Shit. Yeah. It's late."

"Huh?" Angel chuckled the time and agreed. "Shit, I got a fucking day tomorrow."

"Me too," she groaned. "This was fun," she giggled. "Thank you."

They paid and tipped the bartender before drunkenly making it outside. Carrie swayed on her feet as she looked at Angel.

"Can you drive?"

"I can," he assured her. "You drank more than me and you're smaller."

Angel wrapped his arm around her waist, EZ walking ahead of them as if he were in charge and they all wobbled to the truck together.

"Where you going?" Angel asked EZ as he slipped into driver's seat.

"Pop's," EZ replied as he slid in the front next to Carrie.

"Dude there's a backseat," Angel laughed as Carrie was squeezed between them.

"I'm here now," EZ shrugged. "Let's go."

"You mind?" Angel asked Carrie. "Dad lives like six blocks from here."

"I'm fine." She dropped her head on EZ's shoulder and Angel drove off, making their way to Felipe's without incident.

—

"Hey," Angel shook Carrie awake. "Where do you want me to take you?"

"Huh?" She sat up, wiping some drool from her chin.

"EZ's gone, you passed out," Angel explained. "Where am I taking you?"

"Oh," she got her bearings and rattled off her address. "Thank you."

"Yeah, hang on," he said, driving down the street and pulling over. "I gotta take a piss."

"Pee at my place," she told him.

"Nah, I'm not gonna piss myself in my car in front of a pretty girl," he huffed. "I'll be right back." Angel jumped out of the truck and tried to hide back in an alley. He reappeared quickly but he was not alone.

"Shit," Carrie hissed, getting out of the truck and stumbling over toward Angel and the Santo Padre officer who caught him in the alley.

"Hey," Carrie tried her best to look sober. "Is everything okay?"

"Ma'am, are you drunk?"

"No," she scoffed.

"Alright both of you are coming with me," the officer said as he radioed for his partner.

"Were you serious about Kevin bailing us outta shit?" Angel asked with puppy dog eyes and a pouty bottom lip.

They were taken in and left in the drunk tank to sober up before they'd be released. At first, Carrie was angry, angry at herself mainly but also Angel and Kevin and anyone else she could put some of the blame on. She knew deep down whose fault it was though, her own, and she accepted that.

"This sucks," she said to Angel. "Totally ruined the whole night.

"It's my bladder's fault," he said to her to lighten the mood. "I'm sorry. I know this is the kind of shit you're looking to avoid."

"It's fine," she sighed. "Besides better you get caught peeing in an alley than driving drunk."

Angel hadn't even realized that until she said it. "Ah, shit, you're right."

She smiled and nodded. "DUIs are no joke."

"I was a dumbass," he huffed. "Maybe you were right about being responsible."

"I had so much fun with you, Angel," Carrie said almost mournfully. "Thank you."

Angel leaned in and kissed her tenderly. His attraction to Carrie had been steadily growing all evening only to hit a high point there in the drunk tank. They both smelled like alcohol, her make up was smeared and had urine on his jeans, but she still thanked him for the evening. There was something about it that had him smitten.

Carrie's fingers rolled the hem of his button-down shirt back and forth as she kissed him back, her attraction matching his, until a cop banged his baton against the bars.

"Hey," the officer hollered. "Put some space there."

They slid apart and Carrie felt her cheeks flush. "Good to know I wasn't the only one feeling that."

Angel laughed, "I had a lighter the whole time. I just wanted to talk to you."

"Next time no drunk tank," she said, giving him a playfully stern look.

"Next time?" He asked with a laugh.

"If you want, I mean," she shrugged.

"Yeah," he said earnestly, "I do."


	6. Chapter 6

Carrie sat in her SUV a few blocks from Felipe's waiting for a text from Angel. He was at the yard, closing up for the night for Chucky, and told her to swing by since he was alone.

"I feel special," she joked. Carrie was trying not to let her negative feelings from Felipe's visit seep into her conversation with Angel. She knew she had to tell him about Joey but it was not the right time. "I finally get to be here."

"Only when everyone's gone," he laughed, hooking his arm around her and leading her into the clubhouse.

"Where is everyone?"

"Riz is at Vicki's," Angel explained, "I dunno where EZ is, or Coco or Gilly," he shrugged. "Guess that's why I'm here and no one else. They all got shit to do."

"Lucky for me," she said, sitting at the bar as he walked around to grab them each a beer.

"How long you got?" Angel asked, popping the cap off a bottle and tossing it into the bin.

Carrie should have been home already but she didn't care. "Not too long, just one beer."

"Just one beer never works for us," he said, opening a second bottle. "What's up? You said you wanted to talk?" Standing behind the bar, leaning with one hand against the wood, Angel brought his beer to his lips and never took his eyes off her.

"Yeah," she was visibly anxious. "You know, I think I'm going to tell Kevin we should separate."

"Shit," he looked genuinely surprised. "Do I have to ask why?"

Carrie laughed a little. "Everything aside, I just don't want to be married to him. I don't think I ever did, not the way a wife should at least." Looking at him expectantly, Carrie hoped he'd mention their relationship first.

"Probably a good move," he said casually. "You know, EZ saw your car at my place. I had to tell him something."

"Something or everything?"

"Everything." He watched for any sign of disapproval but there were none, he just didn't know it was because she'd already spilled her guts to EZ herself. "He's not gonna say anything."

"Oh, no, I trust him," she said with a chuckle. "How'd he take it?"

Angel laughed. "He was fucking surprised but he was good with it, I told him how important you are. He's happy cause I'm happy," Angel said.

"I'm glad he's happy for you," she said with a smile.

"He did mention something, got me thinking," he was approaching it so cautiously not knowing how badly she wanted this to discuss the same topic. "We been doing this for too long, Car. You leaving Kevin, that got anything to do with us?"

"Yes," she said quickly. "I don't want this to end. Shit, Angel, I was never exactly content with him but if there was no you I'd have no idea how much was missing from the relationship."

Wetting his bottom lip, his tongue lingering in the corner of his mouth for a moment, he smirked with a sense of excitement and pride.

"You know, you two split and you can come around whenever you want," he told her.

"Oh, I'll have access to the spoils of the Mayans' clubhouse?" She feigned excitement. "I'll file for divorce right away!"

"You're a fucking smartass," he growled playfully.

Carrie laughed. "Seriously though, I know how much you hate being in the background, not being number one, so you still being here and putting up with this shit for me means so much, Angel. You've played second fiddle your whole life and I'm grateful you did it for me for the last two years."

Playing it off, he shrugged and brought his beer to his lips again. "Worth it," he finally said after swallowing a gulp, "Especially now that I get you to my fucking self."

"And vice versa," she said. "It feels shitty too though, I feel so guilty about Kevin. I wasted so much of everyone's time."

Angel didn't know what to say so he simply listened but the topic ended as quickly as it started when she brought up her sister.

"But uh, anyway, I'm going to be up north for a few days," she said. "I'm visiting my sister with Joey."

"When you coming back?"

"I don't know," she shrugged. With the threat thwarted, it seemed stupid to even go but she knew it would make Kevin feel better. "Probably by Monday? I have work and not a lot of sick time left so I can't be gone forever."

"Good," he said firmly. "Everything is gonna be alright," he assured her. "I hate how upset you look."

"I'm just tired, I have a lot weighing on me right now," she admitted.

"It's gonna get better," he promised her, running his thumb down her arm to her wrist. He wrapped his fingers around her hand and gave her a reassuring squeeze.

Carrie nodded and chugged the rest of her beer. "I gotta run."

"Alright," he said with disappointment.

Angel walked with her, his hand pressed against the small of her back until they reached her SUV. He pinned her against the driver side door, kissing her hungrily while he hands grabbed at her body.

"I'll talk to you tomorrow," he told her, his beard scratching against her neck as his lips moved along her jaw to her ear. "I love you."

Carrie closed her eyes, her heartbeat quickening, and held onto him tighter for one last second. "Good night," she said sadly as they let go of each other. "I love you too."

—

"Where have you been?"

Kevin was waiting by the front door when Carrie returned home. He looked more annoyed than concerned but she knew he had every right.

"I was thinking."

"Thinking?" He asked with exasperation.

Carrie nodded. "I think we should separate, Kevin. I'm...I'm not in this as much as I should be, I'm not as sure as I should be."

"Separate," he took a step back. "You're leaving me?"

"I'm sorry," she whimpered. "I'm so sorry I just can't pretend anymore."

Burying his face in his hands, Kevin grumbled something before letting out an angry, disappointed groan.

"I can't believe this." He looked at her again. "How long have you felt this way?"

Carrie didn't know if the complete truth was the best thing but she was so tired of lying. "Years, since we got engaged, I think," she was so clearly ashamed.

"Since we got engaged?" He gasped a little.

"I was never sure," she began to cry. "Even when you proposed. All I knew was my dad just died, he was killed in fucking prison, and I wanted something more than that, I wanted safety and security and stability."

"And that was me?" Kevin asked and Carrie just nodded. "Jesus Christ."

"I'm sorry, Kevin."

"Guess you got another reason to go to your sister's," he said mournfully.

She nodded. "I think that's why I decided to tell you now instead of waiting."

"You always were smart," he said sarcastically. "Joey's playing in the living room. I'll get your bags."

Carrie watched as he dragged his feet up the steps before she moved from the entryway to get the baby. Scooping him up she kissed his cheek and held him tight.

"I'm sorry sweet pea," she whispered, "Mommy's trying to make things right."

Kevin tossed the bags into the trunk and gave the baby a quick kiss before Carrie buckled him in his car seat.

"You let me know you got up there," he said, unsure of how to act with her now.

"I will," she assured him. "Let me know what's going on if I can come back early or something."

Kevin nodded and waited on the front step until her SUV was out of sight. It was only then that he turned back into the house intent on drinking his way to sleep rather than deal with the truth.

Carrie stopped for gas a few miles from home, her stomach still churning and her forehead sweaty. Her anxiety was ramping up and she couldn't wait to get to her sister's so she could take something to help her sleep and ease her nerves.

"Excuse me," a man said from the pump opposite hers. "Carolyn Jimenez?"

She looked at the man, guard high, and nodded. "Yes."

"You dropped this," he said, handing over her license.

"Shit," she laughed. "Thank you!"

The man smiled and winked before turning back to his car and placing the nozzle back on the pump. He got back into his car and rolled down the window to wave at Carrie. "Have a good night, Mrs. Jimenez."


	7. Chapter 7

Angel was excited, in fact, he was ecstatic, and even as he and the others walked in to meet Galindo with someone waiting on the pew, he was still overjoyed. He hadn't even had the chance to tell EZ before they arrived but now he wouldn't get the opportunity. Angel came around the large pole with his brothers to see Carrie on the pew, bound tight, her face wet with tears and smeared makeup.

"Yo," Angel snapped. "What is this? Let her go!"

Galindo smirked a little. "Ah, well, I guess I don't need to ask who knows our guest."

"I know her," Angel said, standing between Carrie and Galindo. "She's with me." When he moved to release her, Nestor, her Good Samaritan from the night before, grabbed Angel and held him roughly against the cement pillar. "What the fuck is this?" Angel roared as he struggled.

"Did you know about Angel's girlfriend?" Galindo asked Bishop.

"No," he said, furious for a number of reasons not least of all Angel's lack of transparency. "But I trust Angel."

"What is your name?" Galindo asked Carrie with a little smile.

"Ca-Carrie Jimenez," she sputtered.

Angel huffed, realizing now what the problem was, and tried to interrupt. "It ain't like that, she's been with me for years, before she even married him."

"Married who?" Bishop seethed.

Galindo turned to look at Carrie and asked smugly. "Who?"

"Kevin Jimenez," she replied.

"You're leaving out the best part," Galindo said, relishing the moment.

Carrie looked at Angel, ashamed as she answered, "DEA Special Agent Kevin Jimenez."

The Mayans all held firm, not reacting outwardly to the revelation, but inside they were all furious with Angel, especially Bishop.

"But we're separated," she added quickly. "I haven't told him anything. Nothing. I wouldn't hurt Angel or the club."

"You see why this is a problem for me, si?" Galindo asked Bishop.

"I do," Bishop nodded. "But this?" He gestured to Angel and Carrie, "You see this is a problem for us, si?"

Galindo pursed his lips then nodded at Nestor and said, "Let Angel go."

"And her," Angel growled.

Ignoring Angel, Galindo strolled casually closer to Carrie and lifted her chin to force her to look at him.

"Are you feeding information on my business to your husband?"

"No," she whimpered.

"Is anyone?" He added.

"No," she shook her head. "Where's my son?" She pleaded. "Please, where is he?"

"He's safe," Miguel assured her. "Sweet little Joseph Jimenez."

EZ came in, after finishing a task for the club, and immediately felt his heart stop. He didn't show it, he went to his brother's side. "What's going on?"

"They know about her and Kevin," Angel grumbled. It wasn't enough information to ease EZ's fears though.

EZ wondered how he could quickly contact Emily but it seemed impossible. There was no way she could know what Miguel was doing, was there? He hoped if she did know she would have voiced her disapproval but he couldn't be so sure.

"You proved your point," Bishop barked. "Let her go."

"I need some assurances," Miguel said, dropping his casual smug act. "Even if she's not working against you, word of this gets out about them and I can guarantee the Mayans will have more than their share of extra attention."

"You heard her, they split up," Bishop said. "None of this shit is your concern. We can handle it."

"I hope so," Miguel said menacingly. "For your MC's sake, as well as little Joey and his parents."

Galindo nodded at Nestor who moved quickly to release Carrie. She scrambled off the pew and onto the floor, a crying, panicked mess.

"Where's my son?" She asked her voice hoarse, looking up at Miguel. "Give me my son!"

Galindo snapped his fingers and Joey was shuffled quickly in and handed over to Angel who promptly knelt beside Carrie.

"Look, Joey's alright, he's okay," Angel told her quietly. "Did they hurt you?"

"No," she whispered. "I'm sorry, Angel."

Angel just shook his head as he held both her and Joey in his arms. "You don't have to apologize for shit."

"No I do," she said. "Joey is our son, Angel, he's your son."

"What?" Angel said with a sense of bewilderment. "He's mine?" Looking down at the child Angel started to cry, he wanted to wipe away his tears, to hide his overly whelming emotions, but he wouldn't let Carrie or Joey go.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you," she could barely meet his stare. "I was scared. I didn't want to lose you, I thought you-"

"Stop," he said firmly. "It's fine. It's okay."

"Angel," Bishop called out once Galindo and his men were gone. "We need to talk."

"Yeah," he said shakily.

"We all do," he added. "Everyone okay?" Bish asked, leaving Hank and Taza to walk over toward them.

"Yeah," Carrie cleared her throat. "We're fine. I guess."

Bishop offered her a hand and helped her to stand, Angel holding Joey tight still processing the news Carrie had hit him with. She took the baby, needing to hold him in her own arms, and almost instantly Bishop threw a mean punch hitting Angel right in the eye.

"Let's get back to the clubhouse," Bishop said with a huff, watching as Angel fell back from the blow. "We'll figure it all out."

—

"I was at the pump and he just popped up behind me, he had my license," Carrie recalled. "He seemed fine, I didn't think he was creepy," she shrugged. "Then the first red light after I left the gas station he was there again and I knew he was trouble. He came up to the window and," Carrie shook her head. "I don't remember."

Bishop nodded. "We can get the details from Alvarez if we need to. You have to tell your husband you're okay, he can't know-"

"He doesn't know anything, he thinks I'm at my sister's," she said shamefully. "He has no idea any of this happened."

Since they arrived at the clubhouse Angel and Carrie had no time alone to share even the briefest of sentiments. She was sitting at the bar, just as she was the night before, with a cup of tea while Bishop, Angel, and Hank listened to her story.

"Good," Bishop said, "Keep it that way."

"He's not a threat," Carrie explained.

"He's my cousin," Angel added. "I ain't seen him in years."

"Just his wife?" Bishop asked with a mix of good-natured humor and annoyance.

Angel nodded his jaw tense. "Yeah."

"Anything else you wanna share?" Bishop asked, looking at both Angel and Carrie.

Carrie looked at Angel and he nodded, although she could tell this wasn't how he wanted to share the biggest news of his life.

"Joey is Angel's son, not Kevin's," Carrie said without embarrassment. "And he just found out so could we please have some time alone?"

Hank and Bishop looked at each other and Bishop nodded. "I'll talk to you later," Bishop said to Angel as he and Hank walked out from behind the bar.

"Come with me," Angel took her hand and led her out to EZ's trailer. Ignoring his little brother who was sitting with a sleeping Joey, Angel kissed Carrie, holding her close to him. "You sure you're okay?" He whispered, still clutching her as tight as he could.

"I am now," she whimpered.

"EZ," Angel finally acknowledged his brother. "Can we get a minute?"

"Yeah," EZ gingerly laid the child down and placed a pillow to keep him from rolling off the small bed.

"Tío Ezekiel," Angel said as EZ passed by them.

EZ looked at Angel, confused for a brief moment, before smiling broadly. "Shit, congratulations."

Angel smiled and gave EZ a little shove toward the door. EZ looked at Carrie, they both knew they needed to talk, but they would have to wait until it was safer for everyone. Once his brother was gone, Angel kissed Carrie again.

"Go see your son," she said, needing some space to try to compose her thoughts.

"Mijo," he said with a dreamy smile as he sat on the edge of the bed.

"I should have told you," she admitted shamefully. "I didn't know how you would react and I was scared," Carrie explained.

"He's beautiful," Angel said, ignoring her reasoning and apology. "His middle name," the obvious finally dawned on him. "Ignacio."

"Yep, after you," she said with a small smile. "I thought you woulda figured it out, honestly."

"I didn't wanna think about it," Angel said, gazing at the boy. "Hurt too much."

"Yeah," she laughed sadly. "I wanted to tell you so badly, Angel. I wanted to be a family with you, the three of us," she admitted. "All I ever wanted was you."

"Me too," he finally looked away from their son. "I wanted to stop seeing you, Car, I wanted to just walk away, but I couldn't, it's better to deal with this bullshit with Kevin than not have you at all."

She smiled at that. "You know we still have hurdles, right?"

"I know," he said sadly.

Carrie wanted to tell him about the investigation into Galindo, keeping EZ's involvement secret, but she didn't, the words stayed safely behind her teeth until a better time. "I have to find somewhere to go, I'm not going up north, fuck that."

"No you don't," Angel said harshly. "You stay with me. When shit gets moving with the divorce, you make him leave the house."

"Look at you," she laughed a little.

"You have to tell him Joey's not his," Angel said, a more stern tone to the words than she had heard from him. "I'm not gonna pretend, he's my kid, I don't want anyone else involved."

Carrie nodded. "Yeah, I will, I have to."

"I know this shit is messy now," he sighed, "But it's gonna be fine. Galindo, Kevin, everything is gonna shake out."

"I hope," she sighed. "I'm tired, baby."

"I don't think they're done with me," he sighed. "I'll have EZ take you and Joey back to my place, get some sleep, I'll be there by the time you get up."

"Okay," she pouted.

Angel walked over to her and kissed her forehead before leaving the trailer. He didn't know she was about to burst into tears if he knew he wouldn't have left her, but when EZ walked back in he took his brother's role and comforted Carrie as she cried.

"What are we gonna do, EZ?"

"I don't know," he said, rubbing her back a bit. "I have no fucking idea."


	8. Chapter 8

Instead of crying all day, Carrie knew she needed to take some steps to clean up the messes she had helped create and make worse. Her and Joey, got back into her SUV that Galindo had dropped off at the scrapyard, and drove off to the butcher shop, rather than Angel's, with EZ following behind. They waited until the shop was empty before heading in. EZ turned the sign to 'closed' and locked the bolt. If anyone had questions about the need for secrecy it would be easy enough to list Carrie, the separation and Joey's paternity secret as the reasons.

"Joey," Carrie said softly to the baby, "Meet your abuelo."

Felipe smiled as she presented the child to him and immediately took his grandson into his arms. "He took the news well?"

"Yeah," Carrie smiled. "He did, all things considered."

"Good to hear," Felipe said bouncing the child gently in his arms.

"We have to talk Pop," EZ said mournfully. "This isn't just a little family get together."

Felipe huffed, pressing a kiss to his grandson's temple, and handed him back to Carrie. "What is it?"

"Angel and I have been together for a while," Carrie admitted as if it was still some secret. "But I guess lately we've been less careful and someone saw us."

"One of Galindo's guys saw her," EZ said quickly.

"We had a bit of a dramatic morning," Carrie said timidly.

"What happened?" Felipe said forcefully.

Carrie looked at EZ who took the lead on it. "Galindo grabbed Carrie, questioned her in front of the club, and Angel. They know about her connection to Jimenez."

"Connection," Felipe scoffed. "They're married."

"Separated," she corrected him. "As of yesterday."

It was worse than Felipe realized when she had told him about Joey's paternity, she was leaving Kevin now, undoubtedly for Angel. "This is bad."

"It's not that bad," she stuttered.

"It is," Felipe grumbled. "Galindo knows Kevin now, he knows there's a link and a man like that will not leave it alone, he will dig until he has gone as deep as he can."

"And if he digs," EZ sighed heavily.

"He finds us," Carrie stammered, "Eventually."

"Did you know about this?" Felipe asked EZ.

"No," EZ said staunchly.

"Look, Felipe," she said anxiously. "I know I fucked up but I've been in love with your son for years. I was trying to help EZ because I care about him and because I was terrified someone I love would get hurt. I didn't think it through, not this far, and I never thought," she huffed and shook her head.

Disappointed and furious, Felipe shook his head and waved his hand in her direction as if to dismiss her. "We'll clean it up," he said as he walked into the back of the shop.

"It's okay," EZ said to Carrie.

"It's not," she whimpered. "He's right, I'm an idiot."

"It doesn't matter if you helped me or not," EZ said to her, "It was your connection to Angel that got you caught. Even if you had no clue about my deal, shit even if I didn't make a deal, we'd still be in this spot."

Carrie hung her head. "Yeah, I guess," she said.

"He's scared," EZ said quietly. "It'll be fine, this isn't your fault."

Carrie looked at him and nodded. "Maybe not but I sure as fuck made it worse. Come on, I need some sleep and a shower."

—

EZ stayed at Angel's while she showered so she wouldn't have to worry about Joey being alone. When she came out of the bedroom again she found him trying to entertain a fussy 8-month-old.

"He's usually not so stubborn," she remarked. "He'll get to know you soon enough."

"I can't believe he's Angel's," EZ said. "I keep looking for some resemblance."

"He's so little it's hard but his face keeps getting longer and longer," she laughed. "Your brother has a very narrow face and when I look at pictures from a few months ago to compare how he's changed I can see Joey will too."

"Hopefully he won't have his nose," EZ joked.

"Yeah, if we're lucky," she said with a weak chuckle. "I think I'm going to tell Angel about the investigation into Galindo."

EZ looked up at Carrie with a horrified expression. "What? You can't."

"I have to," she said forcefully.

"You're gonna get me killed," EZ scrambled to his feet. "Can you look passed Angel and Joey to see that?"

"Are you kidding me?" She snapped at him. "I was just tied to a broken church pew in front of the head of a cartel, EZ. You're not the only one at risk here, can you see that?"

EZ turned away from her, fuming, and tried to make sense of the racing thoughts clouding his brain.

"That's why I blurted it out," she explained, "About Joey. That was so far from how I ever imagined telling him but I was so terrified something would happen and Angel would never know that he has a son."

"Don't tell him about the investigation," EZ said, calm and composed. "Please."

"EZ I can't lie to him anymore," she whimpered. "If this shit with Galindo didn't come up it probably wouldn't have even occurred to me but I can't go back now. I have to tell him about it. I have to protect myself, my son and Angel."

When they heard Angel arrive both EZ and Carrie froze. Neither was expecting him so early and it seemed like he had the worst timing lately.

"Just wait," EZ said quietly. "We'll figure it out."

Carrie didn't agree and seconds later Angel walked into his house, looking ragged. "Hey," he said with an exhausted sigh.

"Everything okay?" She asked with concern.

"Yeah," he said, "Bish just had some choice words for me."

Making his way across the room he greeted Carrie, his touch more gentle than usual, before turning to his brother. "You good?"

"Yeah," he said quickly. "I'm good."

"Alright, tio, get the fuck outta here," Angel gestured to the door with a smile. "I need some time with my family."

Carrie smiled as he said it, giving EZ a little wave as he headed out. "Our family, I like that."

"Me too," he said, picking the baby up. "I always wanted this, Car. I got so much shit with my folks and EZ, I love 'em but I wanted a chance to have this and to feel good about."

"And now you do," she said, stroking his cheek. "I feel good about it, I can see you do, I'm just sorry it came out like this. I wanted to tell you in a better way but I was scared, I needed you to know."

"I got you," he said, leaning down and kissing her briefly. "It's all good. I just wanna get to know my boy, spend time with my girl," he smiled goofily. 

"You know we still have to talk, right?"

"I'm tired of talking," he admitted. "You love me, Carrie?"

"More than you will ever know," she said sweetly.

"And that's our son?" He asked, gesturing to Joey.

"Yes, he's our son," she nodded.

"Then right now, amada mía," he practically sang, "Nothing else matters."

\--

"They tased her," Marcus explained to Bishop as they sat alone in templo. "Didn't hurt her, took care of the kid. They just wanted answers and prove there's no secrets."

Bishop nodded. "Now we know," he grumbled. "How'd they put it together?"

"She popped up, a lot, they like to know everyone but they didn't like what they saw when checked into her."

"I wouldn't have either," Bishop huffed. "Angel knows he should have told us, we handled that."

"Galindo still wants some assurances," Marcus said hesitantly.

"I trust Angel," Bishop said firmly. "He's been with his girl for years, primo, even before he patched."

"I don't care about the affair, I care about keeping the peace," Alvarez told him, "And keeping this business relationship going."

"What kind of assurances does he want?" Bishop asked.

"He hasn't said," Alvarez admitted. "Not yet."

Bishop huffed. "What is your educated guess?"

"Angel is going to have to get dirty," Marcus told Bishop. "If it was my call, I'd have that bond between husband and wife severed. Permanently."


	9. Chapter 9

Carrie and Joey spent just shy of a week at Angel's and none of them had ever been happier. Even the baby seemed more pleasant and slept better but that was due to his mother's improved mood, he was feeding off her joy and contentment as children usually do. Every day the boys seemed to get more comfortable around each other and Angel's paternal side was beginning to shine as he got to know his son.

They had a routine when Joey got up, Carrie brought him into bed with her and Angel while she fed his first bottle of the day, and they spent that twenty minutes, give or take, lazing around together until the baby fell back to sleep, followed by his parents, for another hour or so.

"I don't want to go back," Carrie said sleepily.

"I know," Angel agreed, "But you can't stay up north forever," he winked.

"He already asked when I was coming back," she groaned. "Said he's staying somewhere close to his office so the house is empty." Carrie sensed his tension. "Hey, come on," she said softly.

"I know," he finally sat up in bed. "Thought it would be easier now but it's harder."

"Soon," she promised him. "There is something I have to tell you, though, Angel."

He looked over his shoulder at her. "What?"

"The DEA is actually looking into the cartel, or I think," she added to keep it as vague as possible. 

"What?" He asked again this time more emphatic. "How do you know?"

"Snooping," she said, which wasn't a total lie. "I can ask, try for more information."

"Too obvious," Angel shook his head. "This is bad."

"I know," she whimpered.

"It's even worse with this," he jabbed his finger into the mattress between them, "On Galindo's radar."

"That's why I had to tell you," she said. "I'm scared, Angel."

He turned, laying on his stomach now, and looked at her. "Nothing is gonna touch you or our son," he said, his hand on Joey's chest.

Silent, her face clearly presenting her horror, Carrie nodded.

"I want you to stay one more night," he told her. "Okay? I don't want you going to that house alone when you're like this."

"You can come with me," she suggested.

"I can't," he shook his head. "You know that's too risky."

Carrie nodded. "Okay. I'm taking the day off. Can you?"

"I can't," he groaned, "But I can go in late," he added with a wink.

Beaming, the fear and stress dissolving almost instantly, Carrie leaned over the baby and kissed Angel. "I love you."

"I love you too."

After the baby was asleep again Angel and Carrie jumped into the shower, together, and got dressed to head out to breakfast. The past week had been a fairy tale, generally, and they were trying to squeeze every last second they could before real life returned. That included shower sex, breakfast, a walk with the baby and more sex, a quickie in the kitchen, before Angel had to leave.

"Have a wonderful day," Carrie said as she kissed him. "I might look at places today before I go back."

"Yeah?" He smiled. "Let me know what you find."

"One income or two?" She asked hesitantly.

"Two," he said quickly. "Don't be stupid, mi dulce, we're finally doing this."

\--

Almost as soon as Angel arrived at the yard, Chucky was informing him that Bishop and Alvarez needed to speak with him. He'd been there all week, everything felt fine and he thought they all moved on from the Carrie bombshell but it seemed he was wrong.

He walked in the room to see Bishop and Alvarez staring at him. Angel swallowed hard and said a timid hello before taking a seat when they asked him too. He looked at each of them for a moment, silent, before speaking again.

"What's up?"

"Galindo has a request," Bishop said sadly. "We weren't sure he was going to push for something, that's why I didn't say shit this week, but he needs-"

"Assurance," Marcus said, interrupting Bishop's sugar-coated words for the stark reality of what they were facing. "Galindo wants you to kill Kevin Jimenez."

Angel leaned forward, a shocked look on his face, and let his jaw hang open before he could process what he'd been told. "Galindo wants me to kill a fed to prove what? He can trust me? What's this shit been then? The protection runs, the dresses, the shit in Base Town?"

"It's not about trust," Bishop said. "It's about Carrie."

"What about Carrie?" Angel asked furiously.

"Killing the husband guarantees there's no revenge for her leaving him or that she has no easy access to fuck us and him if you piss her off enough," Bishop said firmly.

"She wouldn't," Angel said staunchly. "Bish, I know this girl, she's been around forever, she knows how it works, she wouldn't."

"You need to make Galindo believe that," Alvarez said ominously.

"Angel," Bishop huffed. "What's better, making sure Galindo has no reason to go after Carrie or trusting that either she won't open her mouth, he won't get bad info or the feds won't eventually come after him? That's a lotta danger for her."

"Dealing with Jimenez keeps her safer," Alvarez said, using Carrie as a final push for Angel to simply agree so they could all put it behind them.

Angel slumped down in his chair. "I fucking hate this."

"I know," Bishop said sympathetically. "You keep her safe and you learn a goddamn lesson, we shoulda known about her two years ago. This can make it right."

Nodding, Angel got up and pushed his chair in. "Alright. I'll deal with it."

"You have a week," Alvarez informed him, "But I wouldn't wait till the last minute." When they were alone again, Marcus looked at his younger cousin with concern. "Think he'll do it?"

Bishop nodded despite wondering if Angel's unwillingness to hurt Carrie, even if it was to save her, would do more damage to them all. "I'll make sure he does."


	10. Chapter 10

A few days after returning home again, Carrie was in her dining room with Kevin. She had agreed to meet him but as usual he was distracted and on edge. Part of her wondered if his work, EZ and the Galindo investigation aside, had something to do with her finally leaving.

"What is it?" She asked him with concern.

"What?" He asked, looking away from Joey.

"The problem," she scoffed. "Look at you, Kevin. You're a mess."

He shook his head and turned his attention back to the baby. "It's nothing. I'm just here to see Joey."

"I know you are but that doesn't you're not carrying shit with you," she said with annoyance.

"You sure about this?" He asked her sadly. "The separation?"

"Yes," she sighed. "I am."

"What can I do?" He asked. "Give me some time to get work under control and we'll fix it."

Carrie wished she hadn't asked. It never occurred to her his issue was their relationship, she'd been so happy she almost forgot he was suffering.

"There is nothing to fix," she told him. "Kevin you're great, I love you, but like a friend not like a husband."

"At least something good came from this marriage even if it was fake," he said cruelly. "Joey isn't fake, you can't deny that."

Her breath caught in her throat when he said it. She did not want to tell him the truth, although she planned to, and when he brought it up she felt better usual level guilt skyrocket. Angel didn't even know Kevin was visiting, it wasn't planned and she knew telling him it happened, even though it was spontaneously, would only hurt more.

"He isn't fake, no, but Kevin," she whimpered. "Part of why-"

His work phone rang out loudly from his jacket and cut into her attempt at honesty. Sure she felt relief but she was also angry, the words were right there.

"Hold on," he grumbled as he answered the call. "Jimenez."

Carrie watched his face change and she knew whoever had cut into their conversation was bringing bad news.

"Okay. I'll reach out." He said before tossing the phone on the table.

"What is it?"

"Work."

"No shit," she snapped. "What's wrong? You look upset."

"I am upset, my wife left me," he said harshly.

Carrie drew her head back at the anger in his tone but didn't speak. She had nothing to say, he was right.

"I gotta go, Galindo is off the grid and we don't know where."

"How do you not know?" She asked, eager and suddenly on edge as well. "Where is he? Why would be leave?"

"I just said we don't know," he huffed. "I have to find EZ to see what he knows while the team calls around. Someone must have had a warrant or probable cause."

"Wait," she gasped. "You think he got arrested and didn't, like, leave?"

"He didn't run," Kevin shook his head. "At least I doubt it."

Carrie felt her head spin, the intense terror that slapped her was disorienting, and she felt her legs suddenly become jelly.

"Hey," he moved quickly to grab her as she crumbled down, catching herself on the edge of the table. "What is it? Are you okay?"

"I'm...I'm fine."

"Carrie," he helped her sit. "You look like you saw ghost."

Carrie hadn't seen a ghost but she was terrified she'd be one shortly. If Galindo was arrested he would immediately come for her and Angel and maybe even Joey. He was innocent, he was an infant, but it was a cartel and she had heard the stories from Kevin.

"It's probably my blood sugar," she tried to steady her voice but it was no use. "I'm okay. Really."

He shook his head. "I can't leave you, especially with Joey. I'll have to call Felipe."

"No, go, it's okay," she assured him. All  
Carrie wanted to do was call Angel. She was desperate to hear his croon her name and promise her that she and Joey were safe.

"No," he said adamantly. "Let me get you into bed and I'll call him."

Carrie didn't fight him, she let Kevin accompany her up the steps and into the master bedroom. As soon as she was alone again she text Angel.

"Please call me. It's an emergency. I need to talk to you immediately. Kevin is here, don't just come up, but he isn't the problem. I love you."

The text was vague but she knew better than to name Galindo when potentially anyone could see it.

Angel wouldn't get the text, not immediately like she hoped, because he was in Templo with the club. Once business was finished the other members left through the signed glass door and left Bishop with Angel.

"You're running out of time," he said. "You got a plan?"

"No," he admitted with a dramatic shrug and sigh. "She's gonna hate me."

"She doesn't have to know it was you," Bishop advised.

"Still gonna find out," Angel huffed. "They're married. She's gonna get the call, she's gonna ID him, she's gonna have to bury him and she's gonna know it was connected to me."

Bishop nodded. "Make it look like a smash and grab?"

"Could work," Angel nodded. "She's gonna be suspicious no matter what. Last week she's on the pew and this week her DEA husband is dead."

"As long as it's not obvious who pulled the trigger," Bishop reminded him. "Do you trust her, even after she sees him dead?"

"She'll come to me, she won't go to the cops," Angel said confidently.

"And what if she thinks it was you?" Bishop asked darkly.

Angel smirked a little. "Then she'll come AFTER ME."

Bishop nodded and gave a short chuckle. "When she gets that call let's make sure she thinks junkie, not Mayan."

"I can handle it," Angel said proudly.

"No, I'm going with you on this," Bishop said sagely. "It's too personal and someone has to make sure it's solid. I don't want you going down for killing a fed."

Angel nodded, grateful and even almost emotional over the show of support, and got up from his spot. "Think I'm more worried about mi güera loca."


	11. Chapter 11

Angel got the text a little less than an hour after Carrie had sent it and that length of time only made him more worried. He called her quickly but it went right to voicemail, as he feared, so Angel felt he had no other option than to head up to the house.

Arriving as quickly as possible, Angel found the house lit up and the front door unlocked. Slipping his hand in his kutte and resting it on his gun he stepped into the house.

"Car?" He said quietly knowing Kevin was there but no one replied. Checking the first level of the house he found no one and no hints as to what the big emergency could have been.

Angel opened his mouth again to call out to Carrie, louder this time, but jammed it shut again when he saw Kevin at the top of the steps on the phone.

"I need to talk to him," Kevin said forcefully. "In person or on the phone, Galindo is MIA. I need this information, it'll buy him time and get this asshole off my back."

Pulling his gun, Angel aimed it at his cousin, and debated killing him right then while he had the chance. That was only until Kevin mentioned Galindo though. Angel kept his finger on the trigger but relaxed it and listened.

"When can you reach him?"..."Felipe, this could be dangerous for my family and yours. I need EZ to contact me, tonight, it's in everybody's best interest."

"EZ?" Angel said, confused and now scared for an entirely new reason.

Hearing those two syllables, Kevin turned and looked at Angel in disbelief. "Angel? What are you doing here?"

"What's going on with EZ?"

"Nothing," Kevin said quickly.

"Was that my pop?"

"No."

"You're lying!" Angel raised his voice which alerted Carrie to his presence in the house.

"What are you doing here?" Kevin asked Angel, calmer than most would be with a gun pointed at them.

Angel scowled, glaring silently at Kevin with his trigger finger twitching. "What's going on? What's going on with my brother? Why were you talking to my pop?"

"Hey," Carrie said sharply. "Jesus, Angel," she inhaled sharply. "Put the gun down. Please."

Looking at her for just a second he could see how upset she was and he knew he added to that exponentially. Angel relaxed his arm, hanging it at his side again, but kept his gun out.

"What are you doing in my house?" Kevin asked him growing angrier.

"EZ sent me," he obviously lied.

"No he didn't," Kevin huffed.

"Are you okay?" Angel quickly asked Carrie.

She nodded. "I'm fine."

"Then tell me what's going on," he said to her forcefully. "Carrie. Please."

Kevin looked at Carrie, dumbfounded by the way Angel spoke to her, and furrowed his brow as he tried to make sense of it. He truly didn't suspect cheating, there were no clues that he noticed and Angel was family. It seemed impossible.

"Angel," her voice was mousy and weak. "I-"

"What is this?" Kevin asked angrily, looking back and forth between them.

"I'm in love with your wife," Angel snapped, "Been for years. What was that call?" He was cruel with his word choice because he was angry but he didn't regret it yet.

"You're in love with Carrie?" Kevin was baffled, he never saw it coming, he never suspected it.

"Who was that on the phone?" Angel asked, pointing the gun at Kevin again.

"Felipe," Kevin said, his voice was distant as he tried to understand what Angel had told him. "I'm...I'm trying to find your brother." Looking at Carrie, Kevin could see in her eyes that Angel's feelings were not unrequited. "How long?"

"Kevin," she whimpered.

"She wouldn't see me," Angel lied but only to protect Carrie, not to spare Kevin's feelings. "What do you want with EZ?"

"He made a deal," Kevin mumbled.

"Kevin," Carrie shoved him.

"A deal?" Angel's shoulders slumped as he felt the disappointment betrayal weigh on him.

"To get out early he made a deal, he's," Kevin was silenced by a heavy slap to the face. The loud crack startled all three of them, his skin instantly turned red almost the exact shade as Carrie's stinging palm. 

Angel looked at Carrie. "Did you know?"

"It's not the MC. It's about Galindo. "There was protection clause for you and the club, nothing could touch you. It's always been about Galindo, Angel."

Hanging his head, Angel finally put his gun away and stepped back a few feet. "EZ made a deal to get outta Stockton. He asked to prospect to get information for you?"

Kevin nodded.

"Kevin, Jesus Christ. Stop," Carrie whinnied.

Angel left the house quickly with Carrie running after him. "Go home," he told her.

"Angel. Stop." She shouted.

"What?" He turned and looked at her with such disdain. "What?!"

"I'm sorry." She whispered. "I was trying to protect him. I was trying to protect you!"

"Protect me?" He snarled. "Anyone finds out about this shit and I'm on the hook just as much as my brother! You think they're gonna believe I didn't know? That I was this fucking stupid?!"

"Angel," she cried. "Please."

"What's the emergency?" He asked her, shifting focus to save himself and her from anymore fighting in the middle of the street.

"Galindo is gone," she said, realizing she'd forgotten all about the text from earlier. "Kevin thinks he was arrested and if he was he's coming after me and you."

"Fuck!" Angel roared. "Get back in the house, lock shit up, don't let Kevin leave you alone." He turned and went back toward his bike.

"Where are you going?"

"I gotta find my fucking baby brother," he spat bitterly.

"Angel, what are you gonna do?" She said, hurrying toward him to keep him from leaving. "Please don't hurt him."

Silently he clipped his helmet and put on his clear riding glasses. "When did you know?"

"About the deal?"

"Yeah."

"About two months," she shrugged. "I didn't know until it was a done, I didn't know he only decided to prospect for the deal. I thought," she shook her head. "I thought they approached him after." Carrie huffed. "I'm sorry, Angel. It's obvious now, I just, I didn't know and I didn't ask. I just wanted to protect him from the DEA and everything else. I know how much you love him, I love him, I didn't want to see someone else you love get hurt."

Angel nodded, refusing to make eye contact with her, and started his engine. "Get inside. I'll let you know what I find out."

"I love you," she sobbed.

Grabbing her, rougher than usual, Angel kissed her hard then pressed his forehead to hers. "I love you, mi dulce," he said before taking off down the street.

—


	12. Chapter 12

It wasn't hard for Angel to find EZ. When he left his little brother was at the clubhouse and when Angel returned EZ was still there.

"We gotta talk," Angel growled quietly. "Outside. Now."

EZ looked around the clubhouse suspiciously but no one noticed the exchange, Angel made sure of it.

"What is it?" EZ asked as he met Angel outside.

"Come with me," he gestured to his brother.

They moved down some rows of mangled cars and heaps of metal until they were out of sight of the others. Angel glared at EZ for a long moment before throwing a solid jab and hitting EZ straight in the nose. The younger Reyes fell onto the ground with a grunt, blood already dripping from his nose. 

"You made a deal." He said, sorrow and rage dripping from each word. "You lied to me!"

EZ's head snapped up. "What?"

"You fucking betrayed me!" Angel huffed, grabbing EZ and pulling him back to his feet. "My own brother sold me out, used me, for the fucking DEA."

"Who told you?" He asked, receiving another forceful punch to the face before an actual answer

"Our cousin," Angel snapped as EZ fell to the ground again. "The asshole fed you sold me out to."

"I didn't sell you out," EZ tried to explain. "I told him-"

"Oh, the protection clause?" Angel balked. "Carrie told me. That don't mean shit!" He snarled. "Angel I wanna be with you and Pop. I wanna be a part of something. Maybe there's a spot for me in the club," he mocked his brother. "You. Lied. To. Me."

"Angel," EZ was silenced by a swift kick to the ribs.

"We gonna finish this later," Angel spat, knowing he had very little time. "Anyone hear about Galindo?"

"Devante called," EZ groaned. "Border Patrol has him, it's not DEA, it was random."

"So that means it ain't you," Angel hissed. "Guess you gotta earn some more points another way."

"It also means Carrie's safe," EZ said, still on the ground but kneeling upright.

"No it doesn't," he snapped. "Galindo isn't gonna risk that," Angel mused. "Don't matter, DEA, Border Patrol, FBI, it's all too close. She's not safe, not yet."

"Where is she?" EZ asked with concern knowing Angel was right. Galindo wasn't the kind of man who didn't tidy up, he made sure everything was neat and handled.

"Shut up!" Angel yelled.

"I'm sorry," EZ said sadly. "Angel, I'm sorry."

Angel shook his head, spitting at the ground near EZ and turned his back on him. "Yeah, me too."

—

When Angel left Carrie's she was stuck, alone, with Kevin. Doing as Angel asked, locking everything up, Carrie went into the kitchen and poured herself a drink. She could hear Kevin moving around on the second floor, each step making her stomach turn, while the baby monitor remained silent.

"Boy can sleep through anything," she sighed.

Carrie went through one glass of bourbon quickly and as she was pouring another she heard Kevin's feet on the steps. She didn't turn to look at him as he entered the kitchen, standing right in the doorway.

"We gonna talk?"

"No," she said, her fingers gripping the edge of the counter.

"Do you still love him?"

Carrie downed her second drink. "Still?"

"He was the guy you dated before we got engaged, right? When your dad died?"

She nodded.

"He was locked up," Kevin remembered. "That's why you came to me."

"No," she turned. "You offered, Kevin."

"You're right," he admitted. "I did."

"And you knew I was dating someone," she added.

"Yeah, I did, but I didn't know it was my cousin."

Carrie scoffed. "Would that even have mattered?"

"Guess not, clearly didn't matter to him," Kevin spat.

Looking away, ashamed of herself, Carrie poured her third drink. "I'm sorry, Kevin."

Kevin didn't respond to that. "What now?"

"What now?" She laughed, turning to face him. "I'm just trying not to get killed tonight."

"Get killed?" He pulled his head back and looked at her with furrowed brows and a scrunched forehead. "What are you talking about?"

"Miguel Galindo," her voice shook as she said it. "He saw me and Angel together, looked into me and saw... well, he saw you."

"Fuck," he groaned, the gears in his head now spinning rapidly. "How do you know?"

"Because he took me, tied me to some broken down church pew in a gross basement and questioned me."

"Jesus Christ, Carrie." He didn't care about Angel anymore as he rushed toward her and enveloped her in his arms. "Are you okay?"

"This is why I married you," she began to cry, hugging him back. "You're a good man, Kevin."

"I try," he said sadly.

"I never meant for any of this to happen," she whispered. "Really. I didn't."

Kevin found himself growing too emotional so he quickly broke the embrace. "I believe you. That was EZ on the phone, wasn't it? Right before we split."

"Yeah, the deal terrified me, I was just trying to keep-"

"What happened to your dad from happening to EZ?"

"Exactly," she whimpered. "My dad influenced everything I've done and it hasn't made me a happy person."

"My dad never made me happy either," he huffed. "I've been trying not to do that to Joey."

Carrie's heart jumped into her throat when he said it but she was saved quite literally by the bell as her phone rang on the table. Kevin dashed across the kitchen though, beating her to it, to see it was EZ. Anyone else and Kevin would have let her answer but he needed some answers.

"Hey cousin," he said after snatching up the phone.

"Jimenez," EZ groaned.

"I already know she was involved," Kevin told him. "What I need to find out now is where the hell Galindo is."

"Border Patrol," EZ told him. "Some fluke, I think, when he was coming back from Mexico."

"Border Patrol," Kevin sounded just as confused by the news as everyone else. "Doesn't make sense."

"I don't know, man," EZ said with exasperation. "Can I talk to Carrie?"

"Why?" Kevin asked, his interest now piqued.

"Give me the phone," Carrie said as she grabbed it from his hand. "Hey E, are you okay?"

"Sore," he groaned. "Woulda been nice to get a heads up."

"I was dealing with my own mess over here, sorry."

"You're in the clear, pretty much," EZ told her. "If you wanna come down instead of staying with him you can."

Carrie checked the time and sighed heavily. "I'm really tired."

"It's been a long day," he agreed.

"No, it's more than that," she laughed sadly. "Where's Angel?"

"I don't know," he lied boldly. "Came after me then bolted."

"It'll be okay, he'll understand, we'll make him understand EZ."

EZ wasn't so sure. "I'm gonna be carrying this shit for a long time, Carrie. You should come down, we'll talk about it. I think we could both use it."

Looking across the little table at Angel, EZ felt intense guilt for lying to Carrie but it paled in comparison to how he felt about betraying his brother.

He ended the call and nodded at Angel. "She's on her way down, I told her I'd meet her at the gas station by her place."

"Good," Angel huffed and headed toward the door. "I gotta take care of this shit tonight but makin' that call for me doesn't change anything, it doesn't fix shit."

EZ nodded, knowing he was far from out of the woods when it came to his brother. He watched as Angel left to fix the Kevin problem and secure his and Carrie's safety and their future together.


	13. Chapter 13

Carrie and EZ met at the gas station and waved at one another but didn't actually speak before they arrived at the clubhouse. She jumped out of her SUV and gave him a long, tight hug.

"It's good to see you."

"You too," he said. "Grab the baby and we can head in," EZ said, gesturing to the trailer.

"Oh I didn't bring him," she said casually as she walked past him toward the door. "Kevin doesn't know yet and it felt safer."

"He's at the house?" EZ asked darkly.

She turned around and looked at him through squinted eyes. "Yeah. Why?"

"Uh, no reason," he said quickly. "Just figured you'd bring mi sobrino."

"Sorry," she shrugged. "It's nice to be off duty though."

"I'll bet," he pulled his phone out as she stepped inside the trailer. "I'll be right there."

"Hey," she turned around quickly. "Think you can bum me a cigarette from one of the guys?"

"Yeah, sure," he was already walking toward the clubhouse as he said it. Calling Angel, EZ hurried into the building, trying to will his brother into answering the call. "Come on, asshole," he grumbled, but the voicemail still picked up.

EZ sent his brother a text before attempting to call Coco. Bishop couldn't do the deed with Angel as promised, there was still a little too much tension and anxiety with the Galindo issue for him to leave.

"Yo," Coco answered quietly. "What's up?"

"The baby is at the house," EZ said quickly. "Get Angel and get outta there."

Almost as soon as EZ called Coco, Angel forced his way in the front door. "He's already in there," Coco said, watching through the large bay window.

There was a moment of stillness between the cousins as they made eye contact but it was short lived. 

"What are you doing here?" Kevin asked Angel, shoving him back toward the door.

"Sorry cuz," he said, grabbing Kevin and searching him haphazardly. "Get in the kitchen."

"What else do you want from me?" Kevin asked him, staying in his place defiantly. "You already took my wife."

Angel shook his head and pointed toward the kitchen with his gun. "This ain't about that, now go."

"What's it about?" Kevin didn't move.

"I'm sorry, I... I gotta kill you," Angel huffed and aimed his gun at Kevin's head.

"Kill me?" Kevin asked, taking a step back and pulling his gun from the table. "Cause of EZ's deal or because of Carrie? If she finds out, you'll lose her too. She'll never forgive you, primo. Trust me."

Seeing the words had shaken him up, Kevin took the opening and shot at Angel. He only grazed him though, giving Angel the chance to fire back. That bullet hit Kevin in the chest and sent him backward and down to the ground. He wasn't dead, not entirely, and he used the last of his strength to fire one wild shot before Angel charged and fired a final bullet into his head. It all happened in the blink of an eye but it felt as if time had slowed to a near stop in the house.

"EZ made a deal?"

Angel heard the words from the kitchen and instantly knew the voice. It was Coco, who looked equal parts furious and sorrowful. There was blood staining his shirt, he'd gotten hit in the shoulder by Kevin's stray shot but he didn't care, he hardly noticed. Coco had only one thing on his mind.

"EZ made a deal and you knew?"

Cutting through the silence was Joey's sudden wails from his bedroom. "Fuck," Angel looked at the ceiling, his heart aching more now. "He's not supposed to be here."

"Angel," Coco grabbed Angel as he tried to head for the steps to get his son. "What deal?" Coco practically snarled.

"I just saved your goddamn life," Angel said to Coco, "And that's what you ask me? There is no deal, the DEA was pressing my brother for info on Galindo cause of his history with Emily, but he never gave up shit. End of."

Coco was still holding Angel's kutte, blood running down his arm from the wound. "Alright, end of." Coco didn't know if there was more but he accepted what Angel was telling him and Coco trusted him more than most any other human he knew.

"Lemme get my son," Angel said, pushing Coco's hand off of him. "Then we'll figure all this shit out."


	14. Chapter 14

Coco was jammed in the downstairs powder room, a tiny bathroom with barely enough room for him to turn around when he heard the front door open.

"Kevin?" Carrie called out urgently.

The word was muffled and Coco didn't know Carrie well enough to recognize her voice so he prepared to greet her with a loaded pistol but when he opened the door Angel was standing there with his finger to his mouth. He nodded toward the kitchen door and the two of them scurried out the back just as Carrie entered the dining room. They were out and moving quickly but there was no missing her pained wail as she stumbled upon her dead husband. Angel stopped, looking back at the house, and felt himself start to tear up.

"How'd you know?" Coco asked, still lowering his voice.

Angel swallowed hard. "I saw her coming down the street from Joey's room. I had to put him back and get your ass."

Looking at him cautiously, Coco lit himself a cigarette as the pain from his injury grew steadily worse. "What she gonna think?"

"I dunno," Angel said sadly. "I don't think she's gonna be able to think. I gotta call the fucking prospect and find out why she's here."

*Less Than 1 Hour Before*

Carrie hurried out of the trailer and into the clubhouse for something more than the lukewarm beer EZ had in the barely functioning mini fridge. She smiled at the few people who even bothered to look up and caught up with EZ who was on the phone with his back to her.

"The baby is at the house," EZ said quickly. "Get Angel and get outta there."

Now that wasn't what Carrie heard. Between the music, chatter and her not really paying attention, she caught a mangled, muffled mix that sent her into a panic. All that truly made sense was "Baby, Angel and get out," and that was more than enough for her.

Turning on her heel she ran out of the clubhouse and sped out of the lot. EZ didn't even realize she was gone until he returned to his now empty trailer.

"Fuck. FUCK." He shouted, immediately calling Angel and Coco again and again but neither of them answered.

*Current Time*

They did finally call him back when they were sneaking around Kevin's waiting for Carrie to eventually reach out.

"You fucked up," Coco snarled as EZ answered the call.

"I tried to call you," EZ said shamefully. "I'm sorry. Is everybody okay?"

"Your cousin ain't," Coco said with a mix of humor and darkness that only he could pull off.

"Tell him to get up here," Angel ordered, showing Coco his phone lighting up with Carrie's name and picture on ID the caller. "Now."

—

When EZ arrived he stepped in for Coco who left to not only get patched up but also update Bishop on the mess and to keep any suspicions low. If Carrie saw his injury she would immediately know, even in her grief-stricken state, it was much more than what they were selling.

"We good?" Angel asked him quietly.

Coco nodded. "Yeah we're good but we still gotta talk."

Angel nodded and did not wait a second longer than he had to. As soon as Coco was out of sight, he yanked his little brother with him toward Carrie's.

"What's the story?" EZ asked as they trudged over the lawn.

"Why'd she bolt? What made her come up here?" Angel asked, looking at his brother accusingly.

"I'm not sure," EZ shrugged. "I called Coco, I tried to tell him Carrie left the baby with Kevin," EZ explained. "I told him to get you and get back to the yard but you were already in there."

"Great," Angel rolled his eyes.

"So what do we say?"

Angel shook his head and, glancing over his shoulder, shrugged, "We gotta figure that out when we get in there and see what she knows," Angel huffed.

They stepped into the open front door and Angel called out to her. "Carrie?"

"I'm in here," she whimpered from the dining room.

Angel took a deep breath and walked through to find her on her knees beside Kevin, cradling what was left of his head. The shock and horror on his face were so genuine that it dashed any thoughts she may have ever had of him pulling the trigger himself. It looked so real because it was real, but it was over her suffering and nothing more.

"Are you okay?" He asked her quickly. "Is Joey okay?"

Carrie nodded. "We're fine. I checked on him, he's still sleeping," she admitted as if it wasn't the right thing to do. "It's not like I could have even helped Kevin."

"EZ," Angel instructed, "Go check on Joey. Stay with him." EZ nodded and took the steps two at a time. Looking back at Carrie, Angel grimaced seeing how much blood and most likely brain matter was on her.

"I have to call the police," she admitted. "I know what you all do with bodies," she said lifelessly. "I can't have him in some shallow grave in the desert, I'm sorry."

Angel nodded and remained outwardly calm but inside he was trying to cook up multiple plans all at once. He didn't expect Carrie to have thought of anything beyond her dead husband but he was very wrong.

"Mi dulce, when the cops come, we gotta keep shit quiet. You don't know anything about it, you don't know shit about his work."

Forcing her eyes away from Kevin she looked up at Angel. "Do you know who did this?"

He looked at her, stunned and showing it with a goofy, dumbfounded expression. "No."

"I heard EZ on the phone, he said something about Joey and I panicked," she explained. "If EZ knew something, the club knew something and that means you knew something." She met with his eyes again, "I'm not an idiot, Angel. I know this has something to do with me, with us," she began to cry again.

Angel looked away from her pained expression. "I know Galindo wanted him dead. I couldn't do anything," he explained. "I only just found out and if it wasn't him something would have happened to you or Joey."

"I knew it," she hissed. "I knew that day in the basement that it wasn't over." Carrie grabbed Angel's arm with her blood covered hand and squeezed. "Please tell me it's over now. Please tell me this is it, Angel. I can't take anymore."

"It's over. I promise. It's all over now."

Carrie nodded and carefully removed Kevin's body from her lap. "I'll be right back."

Again, dumbfounded, Angel watched as she called for EZ from the bottom of the steps and went into the kitchen.

"What's up?" EZ asked Angel, baby Joey in his arms.

Angel shook his head, annoyed. "I don't know, she wants to talk to you. Not me."

Handing Angel his son, EZ went into the kitchen where he found Carrie leaning over the sink. "You okay?"

"No."

"Can I do anything?"

She turned and looked at him. "If I ask Angel, he won't," she sighed. "I need you to hit me."

"Hit you? No."

"EZ," she groaned. "Please."

"I can't," he said firmly. He watched as she turned around again and slammed her head into the porcelain farmhouse sink, immediately falling to the floor. "Jesus, Carrie," he hollered, hurrying over to her. "What are you doing?"

"Trying to cover your fucking ass," she said, her voice wavering from the pain and shock of the blow. "You were here with us. Someone broke in," she stammered, "And you saved my life and Joey's life."

"Carrie," EZ was far from comfortable with it.

"Just listen to me," she said with desperation in her voice. "I'm not losing Angel or you, the cops will go for Angel, you know that, and you because of your deal, you'll be dead in a day. Kevin is dead because of me, I gotta try to keep you guys out of prison." Gripping his hands tight she looked at him with eager eyes. "Please help me."

\--

While Carrie and EZ worked out their story below, Angel was upstairs in Kevin's office tearing through anything and everything he could. He needed to show Coco something, anything, that could strengthen his claims. Bouncing the baby on his hip, Angel froze when he heard a car approach the house. He peeked out the window and saw a man casually strolling up the path.

"Shit." He hurried down the stairs. "Guys, someone's here."

"I know," Carrie said. She was sitting on the floor, covered in blood and tissue, and her head was already a deep purple.

"What happened?" Angel asked EZ angrily.

"It was me," she said.

"You?" He asked, his face twisted in anger and massive confusion. "Car, what the fuck-"

The door opened and Kevin's friend, and sometimes partner, Santiago Heimler walked into the house with a horrified, grief-stricken expression. He wasn't touched by the blood or the gore but by Kevin's graying skin, sunken eyes, the crushing pain on Carrie's face, and the presence of EZ and Angel.

Carrie whimpered and got up off the floor. She hugged him and although he knew it was the wrong thing to do he hugged her as well. His judgment was clouded, to say the least, and now he was also covered in Kevin's blood. "Thank god you're here."

"Jesus Christ," his voice cracked. "You said something happened, Carrie, but shit," he looked around the room. "What the fuck?"

"They tried to kill my family," she cried. "EZ saved my life, he saved my son."


	15. Chapter 15

Angel watched, bewildered by what he was seeing, as Carrie began to outline a brutal attack that turned to murder. He almost didn't recognize the woman he was looking at, he didn't think she had it in her.

"I was cleaning up," she explained. "And I heard the back door then I went down."

Heimler looked at the gash on her head. "Do you remember what he hit you with?"

"He pushed me into the sink," she explained. "I think? I guess he grabbed my head," she added. "Kevin and EZ were upstairs, and that's really all I remember until I had a fucking gun in my face."

"Jimenez heard them on the baby monitor in the office," EZ jumped in. "He went down, told me to stay back in case it was," EZ trailed off.

"Work related," Heimler knew what he was getting at.

"Yeah," EZ nodded. "Then I heard the first shot so I came down. He was already on the floor. I didn't get there in time," he said, being purposely vague but not faking his sorrow.

"How many were there?"

"I only saw two," EZ said and Carrie nodded along with him as she cried.

Heimler was trying to keep his focus, to think more like an agent than a friend, but he was struggling.

"Did you see any tattoos?" He asked. "Hear their voices?"

"No," EZ and Carrie said together.

"Then what happened?" Heimler asked distractedly.

"When I came down there was the second shot, I saw them heading back into the kitchen. I fired one off when they went for Carrie and they ran."

"Fucking cowards," Carrie added caustically, and she meant it. The word stung Angel, he could see how furious and hurt she was, how deeply she hated the person who killed Kevin.

"Did you see what way they went? What they were driving?"

"No," EZ said, seeming ashamed of his lack of information. "I was trying to help Carrie."

"I'm so sorry," Heimler said, pulling Carrie into another hug. "We're gonna find em'," he promised her.

"You don't really have to guess, do you?" Carrie asked him. "You know who this was, who it had to be."

"I think we all can safely assume it had something to do with KJ's current investigation," Heimler said vaguely.

'I already know," Angel snapped at Heimler when he said it. "Stop dancing around it."

"Let me make a call," Heimler's voice cracked as he began losing the grip on his composure.

"Wait," she sighed. "There's something else."

"What?" He asked, preparing for the worst.

"Kevin told you we split, right?"

Heimler nodded. "Yeah, he said you were separated."

"I need to be transparent here," Carrie whimpered. "Angel and I are seeing each other, Kevin knew I was dating someone but he didn't know who. We dated when I was in college and sparked again. I didn't want it to come out later and look suspicious."

Glaring at Angel now, Heimler slowly nodded. "Good to know, thank you. I have to call Bowen. We need to work the scene, we've lost too much time already."

He stepped outside, having nowhere else to go without being slapped in the face with blood and gore and the body of one of his close friends. It allowed Carrie, Angel and EZ time alone and Angel made use of it.

"What the fuck are you doing?" He asked her angrily.

"Trying to save the only family I have left," she answered him back harshly. "If I can somehow guilt them into letting EZ out of his deal I will. Without this story, Angel, suspicion would be on you two. I'm not losing anyone else."

Angel felt tears well in his eyes, guilt surging even stronger now. "This is dangerous for you, Carrie."

"I'll take my chances," she whimpered.

Carrie was protecting Angel in more ways than she even knew, but he knew and he was never more in love or more grateful.

A few minutes later an ambulance raced down the street and paramedics entered the house with less urgency than usual. They already knew Kevin was dead, Heimler told them as much, so they laid a sheet over his body and then paid their attention to Carrie.

"We're going to take you in," one said, "Just to be on the safe side. Your blood pressure is high and that wound may need a few stitches."

"I don't think," she started but Angel interrupted her.

"Car, go," he spoke softly.

"Will you come with me?" She asked him, terrified for a million different reasons.

Angel agreed instantly.

"I can take Joey," EZ offered. "He'll be safe with me in the yard, you don't have to worry."

Carrie looked at Angel and he nodded. "Better than having him in the ER with us all night."

"Okay," she sighed heavily. "I'm just... I'm really tired," she said, beginning to cry again.

"I'm sure you'll get some sleep in the hospital," the paramedic said as some attempt to comfort her.

Carrie looked at Kevin's body one last time and closed her eyes, her heart breaking once again. She cried as the paramedics helped her into the stretcher while Angel and EZ spoke in hushed voices.

"What was that?" EZ asked Angel. "What the hell is she doing? This isn't Carrie."

Angel shook his head. "I think it is, little brother. We just never had to see it before. Desperation makes people do fucked up shit," Angel looked at EZ accusingly.

"Angel," he huffed. "It wasn't-"

"It was selfish and desperate," Angel snapped. "And now Coco knows you and cuz," he gestured to the body, "Had some shit going on."

"He knows?" EZ looked at Angel, now terrified of another risk.

"I'm gonna handle it," Angel assured EZ.

Heimler and Bowen entered the house with the coroner moments later, ignoring the Mayans in the corner until they finished their conversation.

"Sorry to interrupt," Bowen said, very obviously not sorry. "We're going to need you to wait until the crime scene investigators get here so they can process you."

"Me?" Angel wore his usual goofy costume fused expression. "I'm going with Carrie, I got here after shit went down."

"You have blood all over you," Bowen said.

"From Carrie," he explained. "She was holding him, grabbed me," Angel gestured to Heimler. "You gonna process that bloody mess?"

"I have to preserve what I can," Bowen explained.

"It's all contaminated," EZ wasn't telling Bowen, Heimler or even Angel anything they didn't already know.

"We just have to make it look good," Heimler said quietly.

"I'm going," Angel said forcefully. "I'm not leaving her alone, not after this."

Bowen and Heimler shared a look and the former then nodded. "I'll send a tech to the hospital, both you and Mrs. Jimenez will need to be processed and give DNA and print samples."

"Alright," Angel agreed.

"I'll come by for Joey when I'm done here," EZ told Angel.

Angel just nodded and left, although he was aching to know just what the three of them would be talking about in his absence.


	16. Chapter 16

Angel was in a silent panic as he watched them usher Carrie into the ER on a gurney, despite her protests. There were a thousand reasons why he was so inwardly hysterical, most having to do with death, serious injury or jail time for himself or Carrie.

With no traumas in the ER that night they worked quickly to get Carrie's vitals and information before the investigators arrived. Carrie handed over her ID and insurance card as the admit nurse hit her with a barrage of questions.

"The head wound is your only major injury?"

"Yes," Carrie said quietly.

"Any allergies?

"No," she said

"Medications?"

"Uh, no," she shrugged, unable to really focus.

"When was your last period?"

"Oh uh," Carrie blanked. "Sorry I uh, I don't remember."

The nurse smiled a little. "It's okay, not many women know after a traumatic experience like this. We have to ask before any treatment, liability reasons. Before you go for imagining you'll have to take a quick urine test."

"Yeah, that's fine," she huffed, annoyed by the inconvenience.

"Emergency contact?"

"Kevin Jime-" she stopped. "Wait uh, he's umm," she stammered.

"I'm sorry," the nurse said softly. "We were told."

"Angel Reyes," she said quickly reciting his number. "He's the best contact, I guess."

Watching from a few feet away, baby Joey in his arms, Angel tried to ignore the investigators strolling through the automatic double doors. They stopped at the nurse's station before making a beeline for him.

"Mr. Reyes?" The woman asked showing him her identification.

"Yeah," he huffed. "One and only," he added with annoyance.

"I can take the baby," the man offered as he slipped his ID away.

"Nah," Angel stepped back. "I'll keep him with me."

"Sir, it's better if we take the child until his mother is released," the woman said more forcefully.

Angel looked at them suspiciously. "Released?"

"From the hospital," the man added. "She's the only living legal guardian."

"I'm his father," Angel snapped. The investigators looked at each other and Angel knew he shouldn't have said that but he didn't care. Joey was his son and he wasn't going to give him up to anyone. "Let's just do this."

While they processed Angel, taking swabs of his DNA, the blood staining his skin and shirt and his fingerprints, Carrie was being questioned again.

"I don't remember," she whimpered. "Can you please just finish this shit?" She snapped at the forensic tech who was taking samples off her as well.

"You didn't see them?"

"No."

"You didn't recognize any voices or tattoos?"

"No."

"Do you know anyone who would want to harm you or your husband?"

She cocked her head to the side. "Are you fucking stupid? Who the fuck even are you? If you don't know the answer to that I suggest you get the fuck out of here and find a competent SSA."

"Oh I apologize," he said, a smirk spreading across his lips. "I haven't introduced myself. I'm Assistant US Attorney Lincoln Potter."

Carrie just stared at him, unamused and unimpressed.

"Do you find it hard?" He asked her quietly. "Trying to fit in? I try, I immerse myself in the culture, but still I'm seen as an outsider."

"Are you serious?" She snapped. "My husband was just killed and you're bringing up race relations?"

He smiled a little. "I guess you don't have that problem, you fit in with Agent Jimenez and his cousins rather easily."

"Sorry." Heimler hurried in the room with an apologetic face for Carrie. "I'm going to assume you've met?"

"We have now," she grumbled.

There was a knock on the door. "Excuse me gentlemen, I need to speak Mrs. Jimenez privately."

Potter wouldn't have normally obliged but seeing as it was Carrie's doctor he nodded. "I'm sorry for your loss," he said to her before leaving with Heimler following after.

"Mrs. Jimenez, I'm Dr. Tyler. I am so sorry for your loss."

She pursed her lips and nodded. "When can I leave?"

"We want to keep you overnight, as a precaution and out of respect. I wasn't sure if you had anywhere else to go."

She looked away and nodded. "Can I get a cot for my son? Or something for him to sleep in?"

"Of course," he smiled. "I did want to speak to you about something. Your urine test came back positive. Did you know you're pregnant?"

Looking up at the doctor Carrie answered his question with her shocked expression. "Excuse me?"

"You're pregnant," he said again, very clearly speaking as sympathetically as he could considering the situation.

"I...I didn't know," she croaked out. "Jesus Christ. You gonna tell me I have cancer too?" She lashed out. "I can't deal with one more goddamn thing."

"I'm sorry this is such a difficult time for you," the doctor remained poised. "I can send in a counselor or our chaplain if you need someone to speak to."

"No," she said quickly. "No, thank you. I'm sorry."

"No need to apologize ma'am," he smiled as he spoke. "I'm going to send you for an ultrasound just to be sure. I think we can skip the other imagining for your head unless it's necessary. Can't be too careful."

She nodded. "Okay. Thank you."

"If you need anything you can buzz the nurse," he said as he swung the door open.

Carrie could see Angel waiting, holding a sleeping Joey against his chest. She waved for him to join her and instantly reached out for the child.

"How you doing?" He asked softly.

"I've been better," she whimpered. Laying Joey in her lap she gazed at the boy lovingly, her fingers brushing his dark hair from his eyes.

"Doc say you're okay?" He asked and she just nodded. "Car, we gotta talk. This plan is dangerous."

"Doesn't matter now, it's done," she shrugged. "There's no taking it back." That was the truth for both of them.

Angel sat on the edge of the bed, Carrie moving over so he could fit more comfortably, and looked at Joey. "Thank you for telling me."

"About?"

"Our son," he said with a sad smile. "I don't deserve a son but I'm gonna do everything I can to change that."

Carrie smiled a bit and gave his hand a squeeze. "I never planned on keeping the truth from you forever and, Angel, you do deserve him."

He nodded, knowing she could see the tears in his eyes, and quickly tried to shake the visible signs of emotion.

"I gotta ask you something," he said quietly. "This plan, why'd you rope EZ into it?"

"He saved a federal agent's wife and child," she said. "I was hoping to buy him some goodwill and get him out of this fucking deal before someone else gets hurt. I'm going to talk to Heimler and Bowen when they come back in."

Angel closed his eyes and kissed her cheek. "Querida," he sighed, "Thank you."

"Don't thank me yet," she said, sounding more forlorn now.

He wanted to tell her that Coco knew, or that he knew something, but instead, Angel enjoyed the silence. Slowly, he inched further into the bed and draped his arm around her shoulders. They both watched their son sleeping peacefully but the secrets and sorrow weighing on each of their souls made it impossible to truly find peace in that moment.

—


	17. Chapter 17

The quick and easy hit had turned into an utter disaster of epic proportions. Coco, still bleeding, regaled Bishop with the story of what had happened and what the situation was when he left.

"I ain't heard from em' since," Coco shrugged.

"Goddamnit, Angel," Bishop grumbled despite knowing it wasn't really his fault. "You gotta get checked out and cleaned up. I'll send Hank and Riz back up to the house."

"Think Pena can help?"

"I think this is way over Pena's head," Bishop said mournfully. "But she might have some information."

Coco nodded, wanting to walk away from the swirling storm that hung over them, and took Gilly with him to their doctor.

Hank and Riz left not long after but, instead of going to the house, they headed to the hospital after a head's up from EZ via text. They didn't bother to ask anyone when they arrived, instead, they moved quietly through the halls as if they belonged or at least had an idea of where they were going. They met EZ in Carrie's room where Joey and Angel were sleeping in a spare bed they had rolled in at Heimler's request. Riz smiled at the sleeping father and son but Hank went right to work.

"What the hell happened?"

EZ looked guilty already. "Carrie walked in early, Jimenez was dead and Coco and Angel had to slip out. She freaked. They didn't have time to stage anything or think up a good story."

Hank huffed. "So what's the story?"

"Angel told her it was a Galindo hit, that it was either Kevin or her that had to go." Seeing Hank was angry with Angel's cover, EZ continued. "She already figured it was him, there was no way she'd think it was anyone else. She told me she knew someone was going to get hurt after they had her on the pew. Said it was just a matter of time."

Hank nodded and glanced over at Angel. "Where is she?"

"They took her for a test," he gestured out the door, "I think she's right down the hall."

Looking at Riz, Hank nodded and watched as the older man left to sneak around the corridors. It was no secret that Angel was sensitive, most of them had soft spots they tried to hide and protect, but Angel seemed to have a bigger one than most.

"And him?" He asked, looking at Angel as he snored quietly with Joey.

"He feels shitty," EZ shrugged. "She's really crushed, it wasn't like she hated him."

"Yeah," it wasn't hard to understand. "And what's the story that got her here?"

EZ looked uncomfortable, he couldn't hide it. "Since it was connected to us, to Angel, Carrie tried to uhh, make it further removed."

"What the hell does that mean, Boy Scout?"

"She told them someone busted in the house, attacked her, and killed Kevin."

Looking surprised, Hank shook his head. "What did she do that needed tests?"

"She uh, slammed her head into the sink," EZ huffed.

"Jesus Christ," Hank said with a chuckle. "Angel better watch himself."

"She's fucking nuts," EZ said, not as amused as Hank in that moment.

Carrie felt just as nuts as EZ was assuming as she laid back on the table for the ultrasound. She was silent, her hands shaking, as the tech told her what she was doing. The quick swishing of the baby's heartbeat filled the quiet room and Carrie immediately broke into tears.

"Are you okay?" The tech asked while handing Carrie a tissue.

"Yes, just overwhelmed," she sniffled. "How far along am I?"

"Actually," she snickered a little. "You're already ten weeks."

"Holy shit," Carrie looked down at her stomach with a puzzled expression.

"You had no idea?"

Carrie shook her head. "No. I had a baby less than a year ago, my periods are still screwed up and I've been...distracted."

"Well, congratulations!"

"Hm," she chuckled ruefully, "Yeah, thanks."

Doing crude math in her head Carrie counted back to try to figure out when the baby was conceived, and more importantly, who the father could be. "Our anniversary," she whispered to herself, "I think."

"That'll do it," the tech laughed. "How long?"

"11 years," she sighed.

"Oh wow, you got married young," she said with a smile.

"Yeah," she dried her tears with the crumbled up tissue.

"Well, Mrs. Jimenez, everything looks great. I'm not supposed to but I can print out one picture for you."

"Thank you," she tried to smile.

As the tech handed over the little black and white photo she beamed. Carrie just nodded and got back into the wheelchair. The tech wheeled her out into the hall and buzzed for the transporter to take her back.

"He'll be right back," she said. "Congratulations again."

The tech disappeared back into the room and suddenly Carrie was moving forward. She glanced back to see Riz grinning as he pushed the wheelchair.

"Jesus," Carrie hissed. "You scared the shit out of me."

"Sorry," he smiled sweetly. "I'm Riz."

"I remember," she frowned. "What are you doing up here?"

"Just checking in with you guys," he said. "Whatcha got there?" He pointed to the rolled up paper in her hand.

"Nothing," she cringed, figuring he had been eavesdropping. Even though she was with Angel, she was still an outsider and she was one that just had her marriage to a federal agent forcibly ended.

"You should tell him," Riz suggested quietly as they approached the room.

"None of this is fair," she lamented. "How much did you hear?"

"All of it," he said honestly. "Sorry."

"I don't want him to hate the baby."

"It's not in him to hate a baby," Riz said sagely. "Angel isn't that kind of person."

Carrie nodded, knowing deep down he was nothing if not full of love and kindness despite his involvement in the club and his emotional insecurities.

"Don't say anything," she said quietly. "Please?"

Riz nodded, although it was a lie. He'd tell Hank and Bishop, he had to, but he'd keep the secret from Angel and the rest of the club until she was ready. "Sure, querida."

He pushed her into the room to see EZ and Hank talking, it was unexpected and unnerving but the sight of Angel and Joey cuddled together helped ease her. She gave them a subdued smile as she got up from the wheelchair and back into bed.

"Hey," Hank said with a smile. "You alright?"

"I'm fine," she said quietly.

"Cops gone?"

She nodded. "Heimler will be back, Bowen too probably, but that won't be about KJ. They'll be checking on me and shit, you know brothers in blue." Carrie rolled her eyes as she said it but she was appreciative of their concern, even if it made her feel anxious and guilty.

"You want me to take the baby?" EZ offered knowing it was the original plan.

"No," she looked over at the bed again with a peaceful smile. "Let him stay with us."

"You need anything?" Hank asked. "For when you get out? That's his job," he joked as he looked at EZ.

"Actually," she grimaced. "I can't go back there, not yet," she whimpered. "Can you grab some of Joey's stuff? Clothes, diapers...his crib?"

"His crib?" EZ looked at her with wide eyes.

"Yeah," she flashed a smile. "Please? It's easy to take apart. Wherever I end up, I'm going to need his bed."

"He'll get it," Hank assured her. "I'll help. Where do you want it?"

She opened her mouth but looked over at Angel and stopped. "Umm, I mean, I guess Angel's but I don't want to be presumptuous."

EZ laughed openly. "You think he's not gonna want you guys there?"

"I don't know," she sighed. "This is all really fucked up right now."

"She's coming home with me," Angel groaned sleepily. "Take all the kid's shit, E."

Carrie smiled, "Thank you."

He just nodded, wearing his adorably dazed and still half asleep expression. It instantly calmed her and brought a smile to her face. "Anything for you, amada mia."

"I'm gonna puke," Hank laughed. "Come on, prospect, you got some heavy lifting to do."

"I thought you were gonna help," he said as the three of them started to walk out of the room.

Hank laughed loudly. "I'll supervise."

Angel and Carrie chuckled a bit as their thunderous laughter slowly faded. Sliding out of the bed, Angel put the rails up to keep the baby from rolling out and joined Carrie once again.

"How you holding up?"

"I'm okay," she shrugged.

"Hey," he cupped her cheek. "It's gonna be okay. I'm not gonna let any of this shit touch you or Joey." In response, she leaned onto his hand and closed her eyes. "And don't worry about staying with me, I want you to. I want my family," he whispered into her hair.

"What would you think of that family growing?" She said hesitantly.

His lips turned into a crooked smile. "What?"

Carrie couldn't say it so instead, she handed him the rolled up print out. He eagerly unfurled the paper, already knowing what she was trying to tell him, and looked from the picture to her with tears in his eyes.

"It looks like a girl," he joked.

"Angel," she said sympathetically, "There's a chance it's no-"

He shook his head. "Don't say it."

"But does that change anything?" She whimpered, fearing the worst but needing everything on the table to keep from suffering anymore upheaval or heartbreak. "I need to know, I need to feel secure in something, Angel.

"It doesn't change anything," he assured her, already feeling immensely guilty over the possibility of having killed the baby's father. "You're never more secure than with me, Car."


	18. Chapter 18

The next morning prior to Carrie's discharge, Angel took Joey back to his house to see how much EZ had gotten done and to try to clean as much as possible. It was never the neatest place and she had seen that but now that he was going to have Joey and Carrie living there full time he felt it needed an overhaul.

While the obsessive cleaning was taking place Carrie received a visit from Heimler. It was expected and Carrie needed to speak with him but her stomach churned when he sat beside the bed and she knew it wasn't from the baby.

"How are you?" Heimler asked, patting her hand.

Carrie shrugged. "I think I'm still in shock," she admitted. "I'm pregnant, I just found out last night."

"Wow," Heimler inhaled sharply.

"The baby is Kevin's," she said, "I know you want to ask."

"Bittersweet," Heimler said sadly.

Carrie nodded. "Listen, I have uhh, lost a lot and, uhh if it's valid or not I blame the DEA for a portion of that," she explained. "So, I have a request of you, Bowen, and the federal government."

Heimler looked at her cautiously. "What request?"

"Let Ezekiel Reyes out of his deal," she said firmly. "I lost my marriage and Kevin is dead, the father of my child, but the only reason Joey and I are alive, and this baby," she touched her stomach briefly, "Is because of EZ. I think he has done more than enough to wipe this shit off the record."

Heimler sighed, relieved it was not as steep of a request as he was fearing. "I can try, and I agree, but this is bigger than Bowen."

"How big?"

"I can't say," he told her. "Kevin was at a tipping point with this, he was ready to snap, you're lucky nothing blew up at work before this shit went down or you'd be out in the cold burying a disgraced agent."

Her nose scrunched. "What are you talking about?" It wasn't like Kevin to stir anything, to snap, or anything other than follow the letter of the law and orders. Something had to be amiss for him to risk so much and act so out of character.

"He didn't like how they were pushing EZ around, what they were asking, how they were threatening to burn him. KJ wanted to honor the deal they made, he wanted to do right by Reyes, but it was getting messy."

"You can't give me any actual info?"

Heimler shook his head. "I'm sorry."

"Fine," she huffed. "Can you talk to Bowen at least?"

He nodded. "I can see what I can do, but I won't promise anything."

"I appreciate it," she swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood to hug him. "Thank you for everything you've done for Kevin and for me."

Heimler nodded as their hug ended. "I'm sorry all this happened, Carrie."

"I am too," she whimpered, feeling the urge to cry yet again.

Once he left and Carrie was alone with her thoughts, she felt awful. Using Kevin's death to free EZ from his deal was untorid to say the least, but she knew Kevin wanted the best for EZ and she hoped he would have understood, or even supported her decision. If Carrie had the truth though, the full truth, she wouldn't be there, painting the pictures she was, to help separate the men who killed Kevin from his murder.

\--

*A Few Days Later*

Ever since she was released from the hospital, Carrie walked around with a perpetual knot in her stomach. The reality of what she had done, lying to the DEA, was starting to scare her more and more as her head cleared with each passing day. At first it made sense, it was the only option, but as the horror of what she walked into that evening dulled she was beginning to wonder if she'd made a mistake.

"Hey," Angel walked into the house around noon. "How you doing?"

She looked up from the basket of baby laundry and shrugged. "I'm okay."

"What's wrong?" He asked, standing over her authoritatively although not meaning for it to feel that way.

"I"m scared," she admitted.

"Of what?" He was visibly concerned.

"Obstruction of justice, making false statements, impeding a federal investigation, accessory after the fact," she rattled off the charges she could possibly face.

"You need to stop Googling shit," he chided.

"I need this investigation to be done so I can breathe again," she sighed. "You don't have to keep coming back here to check up on me."

"I want to," he told her.

"I"m going back to work soon," she told him. "I can't just be here all the time. I'm losing my mind."

Angel sat beside her and, putting his arm around her shoulders, pulled her to down to lean against him. "Galindo is fine now, if that helps. Good with us and the Mayans."

"One bullet dodged," she said, breathing in his smell. "I wasn't going to say anything until I knew if they could do it but I did ask Heimler if EZ saving the day could get him out of his deal free and clear. I mean, he hasn't gotten back to me yet but I'm hoping."

Angel leaned over and kissed her. "Thank you, I wasn't sure if you were still gonna."

"You're welcome, I know it protects it too, so it wasn't completely selfless."

Smiling at her he sat back and pulled her toward him again. "Coco knows though."

"What?" She sat up, mouth hanging open. "How?"

"It just kind of came out," he lied. "I told him it wasn't a real deal, just Jimenez was pressing E for info but he wouldn't give shit up. I don't know if he buys it."

"It's been days and he hasn't mentioned it?"

Angel shook his head.

"Maybe he believes you?"

Shrugging, Angel held her tighter. "Can we just enjoy this? Please?"

"Gladly," she said, bringing her legs up and laying against him. "You know, since you're here, I might dip out. I have to meet with my supervisor about going back. She said I can pop in whenever."

"Go ahead," he said. "Might wanna shower first," he teased.

"You're funny," she stuck her tongue out at him. "I won't be long. When Joey gets up he's gonna need a bottle."

"Got it," he winked at her.

Angel didn't know Carrie would use the time in the shower to cry. She hated openly grieving, despite knowing he'd understand, so she saved her sorrow and tears for when she knew she was completely alone.

After her shower she got dressed and ready to go, quickly making her way down the stairs to find Joey and Angel on the floor together. She smiled, some joy creeping into her heart, and grabbed her keys.

"What are you two doing?"

"Teaching him how to play poker," Angel explained.

Carrie moved closed to see Joey gumming a playing card while the others sat face up around his feet. She laughed loudly, "I think he needs more time."

"Nah, he'll be winning pots in no time," Angel said proudly.

"Uh huh," Carrie kissed them both on the top of the head. "I'll see you boys soon."

\--

It felt good to get out, to feel like a normal functioning human, and the meeting went well so when Carrie made her way back to her car she was smiling broadly and moving with a pep in her step.

"Mrs. Jimenez."

Carrie glanced over to her left to see Potter leaning against a concrete pillar. "Jesus Christ, what do you want?"

He smiled, "Such passion."

"You are so fucking weird," she unlocked her car with the keyfob. "What is this?"

"I heard about your request to free Ezekiel from his deal, cutting the ties that bind him to your late husband now that yours have been so permanently severed."

"Okay," she shrugged. "And you're here to tell me no?"

"Quite the contrary," he strolled over to her. "I've already done it, actually."

Carrie drew her head back. "Really?"

"Really," Potter smiled. "He'll be meeting with Bowen today, it'll be explained and he'll be on his way."

"Oh, well, thank you."

"No, thank you, Mrs. Jimenez," he said with a creepy smile. "I didn't do that for Ezekiel I did it for you."

"For me?" She shook her head. "I don't get it. Heimler said Kevin was going against his superiors, I'm surprised you actually agreed because I know he was stirring things up."

He nodded. "He was but you," he grabbed her face, "Your involvement with him and Angel Reyes helped solve a problem I was going to have to outsource."

"A problem?" She asked, pulling her face away from him. "You don't mean Kevin."

"I do," he nodded. "Agent Jimenez was going to be an issue for me but now it's done and I didn't have to lift a finger."

Carrie felt her chin tremble. "You're an AUSA, you're supposed to uphold the law. You don't kill people, you don't murder other LEOs."

"The game has changed, Mrs. Jimenez," he said earnestly. Potter kept calling her that because he knew it was upsetting her more and more each time and it was throwing her off. "The Rule of Law has been fundamentally broken."

"You were going to kill him?" She asked incredulously.

"Not me," he laughed, "But he was going to be removed from the equation."

Carrie shook her head. "So you're doing this for me because Kevin was killed over my relationship with Angel?" A massive rush of guilt and self hatred flooded her system and Carrie felt tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Exactly," he clapped. "I'm glad this could come to such a peaceful end," he said in a strangely kind yet mocking tone. "I truly wish the best for you and both of your children," he added.

"Then we're all done here?" She asked hesitantly. "Me, EZ and Angel?"

"For now," he smirked. "I think I solved a bigger problem for you than you for me. So let's just say, you owe me one, Mrs. Jimenez."

—


	19. Chapter 19

After her unsettling meeting with Lincoln Potter, Carrie put on a straight face and went to meet EZ at the butcher shop. She was happy to go, she'd been planning on texting him after she heard the news from Potter but EZ reached out to her first. Stopping at Angel's she picked up Joey, knowing Angel had to get back, and promised him she'd tell him everything that evening.

"I am so sorry," Felipe said to her. He gave her a kiss on the cheek and took the baby. "I heard what happened."

"I'd be surprised if you didn't," she said sadly, "But thank you."

"EZ is on his way," Felipe told her. "Said he has news."

She nodded. "I'm sure he does."

"I know things weren't perfect between you and Kevin but the loss of a spo-"

"Please don't," she whimpered. "I don't think you can help me deal with this, you and I are suffering in vastly different ways."

"A loss is a loss," he said.

"True but I lost Kevin years ago, if I ever really had him at all," she shrugged. "There wasn't a time that I ever loved Kevin without doubts or longing for Angel." Carrie hated herself but it felt good to be able to be so blunt and honest with someone. Why she chose Felipe she didn't know but she couldn't stop it now.

"I'm here if you ever want to talk," he offered. "That's all."

"Thank you," she said. "Thank you for welcoming me and Joey, as well. Whether or not you feel the same as you're acting it's nice not to be shunned."

"La familia," he said with a smile. "Speaking of," Felipe added.

Carrie turned to see EZ pulling off his gloves a she strolled up to the door. He smiled at them, cheerful yet reserved, and gave them both a hug.

"You're in a good mood," his father remarked.

"I'm off the hook, Pop," he beamed.

"How?" Felipe looked just as shocked as Carrie should have been.

"I helped Carrie," he said simply, "And this was the government's thank you."

"You helped her how?" His joyful expression turned dark and stormy. "What is this?"

"When Kevin was killed I had to be a bit creative with some details," Carrie admitted. "I put EZ there, one because it was easy to have a reason he'd be there and two because I needed a reason to still be alive."

"The home invasion?" Felipe looked at EZ then Carrie.

"It happened but I wasn't there," she sighed. "Angel should have explained this."

"This is more dangerous," he chided them.

Carrie shook her head. "It's not. If they knew the real story they would have investigated, they would have found out about me and Angel and that puts the murder on him. I had to put distance there and I could only do that by throwing myself and EZ into it. Why would Angel or the club kill Kevin knowing I was there with our son? Why would Angel go up there when EZ was there? They would have seen him and left before even busting in."

"I still don't like it," Felipe huffed.

"Pop, it's fine," EZ explained. "It's done. It's been wiped, there isn't even any evidence left, it's all smoke."

Felipe listened to EZ, his expression slowly changing, and eventually gave into his excitement. Their happiness scared Carrie though. She thought the moment she relaxed and began to welcome and accept the reality of her new life something would come along to disrupt them all.

EZ and Felipe chatted happily, Carrie simply listening and making faces at Joey but it wasn't long before she made her exit.

"E, the house is supposed to be released soon and other than a few things I'm just junking it all and selling as is. Think I could borrow those arms of yours in the next couple days?"

"Sure," he said. EZ wore a sunny smile as he looked at Joey. "Pop know?" He asked quietly. "About the new baby?"

"I don't know," she huffed. "Your brother and I have to talk. He's keeping things and I don't know why. I thought he would have explained everything since he knew I was using it to get you off. He should of laid it out, come on, was he thinking your dad wouldn't want every detail," she chuckled.

EZ laughed and nodded. "Angel's got a lot going on," he said. "He may have forgotten."

"Big thing to forget," she said sadly. "Anyway. I gotta go. I'll be in touch."

—

Carrie had Angel meet her at the house after dropping Joey off at daycare for a few hours. When he arrive she found her in the office, sitting at Kevin's desk.

Angel knocked on the doorframe. "Hey," he said quietly.

"Hi."

"What's up?"

"You still have that Coco problem, right?"

He nodded. "I do."

Leaning over she opened the desk drawer and pulled out a laptop, placing it on the desk gently. She opened the lid and sighed, typing in her birthday as the password, and waved for Angel to come closer.

"Kevin saved some stuff, work related, on his personal computer. He wasn't supposed to, part of me thinks he knew something would happen," she said sadly.

"He knew the risk of his job," Angel said. "Just like I know the risks of mine."

Carrie nodded despite knowing the risks they accepted were much different than the risk Kevin faced from Lincoln Potter.

"Anyway, uh, there's gotta be some shit on like, official letterhead, we can use to prove to Coco that EZ is in the clear."

"Fucking smart," he said. Kissing her cheek he sat on the edge of the antique wooden desk.

"I asked EZ to help get some stuff before I just toss it all, maybe he could accidentally find some files or something?"

Angel nodded. "Yeah, that works." He looked at her and shook his head. "You good, querida?"

Carrie shook her head. "No."

"What is it?"

"This," she said.

Her palms were flat on the desk, her eyes skimming the office and landing on the wedding photo he had beside the lamp. Angel didn't know what that meant exactly so he just shrugged a little.

"You didn't tell your dad about the baby?"

"Uh no," he said.

"Or that EZ was tangled into this shit with the story about Kevin?"

"No."

"Why not?" Carrie tore her eyes away from the photo. "EZ is clear and I had to explain how."

"I got a lot going on," he sighed.

"Do you?" Carrie laughed angrily.

He made a face, regret and anger at himself, and shook his head. "I know you do, Car."

"My husband, whose baby I'm most likely pregnant with right now, is dead because I've been fucking his cousin for heads. I'm faking DEA documents to prove an informant in the club isn't actually an informant. I have the life I wanted, with you, but I can't live it, I can't enjoy it, because I," she stopped.

"You what?"

"I feel guilty. I feel...relieved, in some ways, that I don't have to tell Kevin about Joey. I'm angry at myself, at you and EZ, the fucking cartel."

"Yeah, cause this has been so great for me?" He asked indignantly. "My brother used me. My brother begged to be apart of my life, apart of my club, my family, just to save his own ass, to be better than me, than you, than all of us. Pop supported it, he helped him, he chose him over me. Again. They knew that deal could get me killed." Angel got off the desk and pointed his finger in her face. "And you did too," he said accusingly.

"No," she shot up out of the chair. "I didn't think they would ever suspect you, I thought they'd know you were just,"

"Just fucking stupid enough to be played by my baby brother," he sneered. "So I'm sorry you're dealing with a lot," he said mockingly, "But on top of club shit, the cartel and the rebels, I gotta make sense of all this shit too."

Angel stormed out of the office, straight out of the house, and sped away with tears in his eyes. He didn't notice the other bike a few spots down and the man sitting casually with a file folder in his hands.

Potter's eyes rolled over the forensic blood reports as he watched Carrie angrily lock up and get back in her car.

"Looks like trouble in paradise," Potter mused quietly.


	20. Chapter 20

*A Few Days Later*

It took some planning but Angel and Carrie were able to successfully avoid each other for a couple days after their blow up at the Jimenez house. Neither wanted to admit they were wrong, their pride and stubbornness were too strong. It was because of those issues that Carrie sat alone in the waiting room at the OB.

"Carolyn?" The nurse said, chart in hand, to bring Carrie back to the exam room. "How are you feeling?"

"Not bad," she shrugged. "Considering."

The nurse smiled and nodded then went through the usual weight and blood pressure check along with a slew of questions.

"The doctor will be right in," she said with a smile. The door shut and Carrie exhaled the anxious breath she'd been holding. Seconds later there was a knock and the door opened again. "Daddy's here," the nurse said as Angel strolled in.

"Oh," Carrie said with surprise. "Hey."

"Hey," he said nervously.

"You came," she smiled a little.

He nodded and kissed her cheek. "Of course I came."

"Thank you." Carrie looked up at him and laughed a little. "I'm sorry."

"Fuck, me too," he groaned. "I missed you."

"It's worse now, right? Since we'd been seeing each other so much?"

He nodded and laughed, leaning on the side of the table and throwing his arm over her shoulders. "Yeah, it is. You were right, ya know," he said with slight hesitation.

"So were you though," she whimpered. "I guess this is our way of saying we were both wrong without actually saying it?"

"I mean you just said it," he shrugged. His bottom lip was out a little as he looked at her with a cocked eyebrow.

"You smug bastard," she laughed. "Where have you been saying?"

Angel rolled his eyes and huffed dramatically. "One night at my dad's place, one at the clubhouse and one in EZ's shitty trailer."

"Did you guys spoon in that tiny bed?"

"Fuck no," he laughed heartily. "I got in there while he was doing something for Bish, I was knocked out already so he crashed on the little bench."

"Oh my god in the booth? You're a bastard, Angel."

He frowned. "But I'm cute."

"That's your goddamn saving grace," she complained.

Jokingly he fluttered his lashes at her just as the door opened again. "Mrs Jimenez?"

"Hi Dr. Cramer. Uh just to let you know, its Miss now," Carrie corrected her. "I'm no longer married."

"Oh, well, good to know. Will you be changing your name? We'll need to know for your file."

"I actually," she stammered.

"She'll be Reyes soon enough," Angel interrupted.

Although it was bold of him Carrie was grateful for his assumption since she hadn't once thought about her last name. She hadn't seriously thought about if she and Angel would ever marry either but the awkward moment was done for now.

"Well then when it's official just let the office know," the doctor said with a smile. "Is this?" She asked, pointing at Angel.

"The father?" Carrie finished for the doctor. "Yes, it is. This is Angel."

"Reyes, I'm assuming?" The doctor joked. "Very nice to meet you," Dr. Cramer said politely.

This being Carrie's second pregnancy she had a better idea of what was normal and that made her appointments much quicker. Fewer questions and no need for long explanations.

"I'll write the slip for the NT scan and see you back in a month," Cramer said with a smile. "Unless you want to sneak a peek now?"

"Could we?" Carrie asked excitedly.

"Sure," she said. "I had a cancellation so I can give you a few extra minutes."

The three of them hurried down the hall for a quick ultrasound. There was always a bit of nerves right before, a natural fear that they wouldn't find the heartbeat or something would be wrong. Luckily there was no need, almost immediately they could see the flicker on the screen and both Carrie and Angel were brought to tears.

"Judging by this you're measuring right in schedule," the doctor said. "Everything looks good!"

"Thank you," Carrie beamed. "It's been a long couple of weeks, this really brightens things up."

"My pleasure," Cramer said. "You have any questions or concerns just call!"

They shook hands with the doctor before she dashed away to see her next patient. Carrie looked at Angel. "You good?"

"I'm good."

"Angel," she said dramatically. "Speak."

"Nah, I'm good," he assured her. "I love you, mi dulce."

"I love you too," she beamed. "And we're good?"

"We're good," he said. Kissing her cheek he helped her off the table and the two of them left the room hand in hand.

"Joey is in daycare," she said suggestively. "You have any plans?"

"Uh," he groaned. "Kind of."

Carrie pouted but gave his hand a squeeze as they reached her car. "It's fine. Short notice and all," she shrugged.

"Nah, meet me at the clubhouse," he told her. "I'll see if I can't work something out." He opened the door for her and shut it once she was in and buckled. "I love you."

"I love you too."

They kissed through the window before she pulled out of her spot and left for the yard. Angel didn't rush after her. He rode leisurely, thinking too deeply on one particular thing the doctor had said. She mentioned the baby was measuring correctly, which meant Carrie was as far along as she assumed and that meant the baby was probably Kevin's.

Angel rolled to a stand still at a stop sign. "I killed your dad, kid," he muttered out loud to no one. "Fuck. I'm sorry."

It was heavy, the guilt and sorrow he already felt over Kevin's murder multiplied exponentially. Angel loved Joey immensely, he felt devotion and duty toward his child but this one, Kevin's baby, he felt even more monumental pressure over. He had to do right by that child, he had to and he would.

When he finally arrived he found Carrie sitting at a table with EZ and Gilly wearing a bright smile. Angel figured she'd get along with Gilly, he was goofy, kind and always very warm. Seeing her interacting with the club made Angel happier than he expected. All facets of his life were merging and it seemed to be going well.

She looked up at him as he approached the table. "Hey," Carrie said. "What took so long?"

"Get lost again?" Coco teased as he strolled passed them.

"Just thinking," Angel shrugged.

"Don't hurt yourself," Gilly joined in.

"I'm hungry," Carrie told him. "We should grab something."

"Sorry," Bishop interrupted. "I need him."

"Story of my life," she groaned. "It's fine. I'll go visit my favorite Reyes instead," Carrie teased.

"I'm right here," both EZ and Angel joked in unison.

"Oh god," Carrie said.

Anyone who overheard laughed heartily, teasing the brothers almost immediately. "This shit is gonna stick for a while." Angel said to EZ.

"Yeah, I think you're right," EZ sighed

When Carrie stood up she wobbled a bit and quickly grabbed the edge of the table for support. "Shit." She whimpered as she moved to sit down again, Angel helping out of an abundance of caution.

"Hey, you okay?" Angel asked worriedly.

"Yeah," she said shakily. "Probably just my blood sugar."

"Bish," Angel said urgently.

"Take her home," Bishop told Angel authoritatively.

"No, really," Carrie said, clearly embarrassed. "I'll...I'll be fine."

"No, querida," Bishop said sweetly. "You gotta take care of that baby."

Carrie smiled. "Thank you, Bishop."

Angel held Carrie's arm as they walked back out to her car. "I'm driving," he said staunchly.

"Uh yeah," she laughed. "Obviously."

Once they pulled out of the gate, Carrie turned her body toward Angel. "Wanna know a secret?"

"What?" He glanced at her quickly, taking his eyes off the road for barely a minute.

"I totally just faked that," she admitted.

"You did?" He asked, more surprised than she expected.

"Yeah, sorry," she said. "I just wanted Bishop to let you off for the day."

Angel smiled, reaching over to caress her cheek, and winked at her. "I love it."

"I was starting to think you'd be pissed," she admitted.

"No," he laughed. "Especially since I'm gonna be out of town tomorrow night, heading up to the casino for a meeting."

She looked at him suspiciously. "With who?"

"Galindo and...a mystery guest, that's why we need neutral ground."

"Is that safe?"

Angel nodded. "Yeah, we're good." It was always a worry, of course, but they had each other's backs and trust. So, he kept that to himself as not to add additional concerns to her already loaded shoulders. He brought her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles. "You got nothing to worry about, mami."

When they got home there was no hesitation on their way into the house and straight up to the bedroom. Angel was softer, something in his subconscious forced him to be gentle with Carrie, and she found his tender hands and movements endearing as well as frustrating. With a huff she pushed him off her and clamored on top of him, riding him passionately, her moans louder than usual and her breathing more labored.

"Christ," Angel groaned. His hands ran up her stomach to her breasts as she slowed her pace, both of them coming down from the high of their orgasms. "What was that?"

"I missed you," she sighed. Laying on his chest she smiled dreamily. "I haven't had sex in weeks, Angel."

"Me too," he reminded her.

"Sometimes I forget your not still pounding away at those girls that love to hang all over you guys."

"Nope," he chuckled. "And you didn't forget. I know you."

"True," she smirked.

His fingers lazily ran up and down her arms as they laid in silence, enjoying the peace. "You making dinner?"

"You dick," she laughed. "Yeah, I am, but you have to pick up Joey from daycare."

"I need you to get off me to do that," he laughed.

"Not yet," she groaned. "This is so nice."

"We're sticky," he said.

Carrie laughed and rolled off him. "Buzzkill."

"I really just wanted to look at you," he smirked. Angel stayed on his back, his hands behind his head, watching as she glided around the room naked. He noticed her stomach was growing, the tiny bump brought a sad smile to his face. "You look good."

"Just wait," she said. "In a few months I'm gonna pop and it's going to be scary."

"I seen you pregnant," he told her. "It's sexy as hell." Continuing to watch her he sucked in his bottom lip.

Her cheeks flushed bright red. "Yeah, whatever," she scoffed. "Go get Joey." Carrie scurried over to kiss him before disappearing into the bathroom. "Love you, careful driving!"

Angel smiled at that. "Yeah, love you too."

\--

When Angel returned with the baby, Carrie was in the kitchen preparing dinner and the whole scene felt surreal. Carrie used to cook for him at her house, when Kevin was away or working overtime, but now they were in his home, with their son. It was what they always wanted.

"What's that?" He asked, handing her Joey to say hello.

She nuzzled the boy and held him tight. "Any issues?"

"Nah," he shrugged. "The receptionist hates me."

"She's probably scared of you," Carrie told him. "You're hot but you're also uhh, scary looking."

He was slightly offended and her expression told her as much. "Scary?"

"Well," she huffed, "babe, you're a tattooed biker. Most of those parents are just boring ass professionals."

"Whatever," he shrugged. "What are you making?"

"Parmesan pork chops," she told him.

"Smells good," he said simply.

"You know, this will be our first real Christmas together as a family." Carrie watched his face light up. "You haven't had a real Christmas in years, have you?"

"Nope," he frowned. "I always got wasted at the clubhouse."

"Not this year," she told him. "It's Joey's first."

"Can we have a big dinner? With my old man and EZ?"

Carrie beamed. "That sounds great. Oh, just so you know when you're gone I'm ripping this place apart okay? Don't be pissed when you come back to a proper home."

"Coco doesn't really have family," Angel told her. He was less interested in redecorating and way more into planning Christmas.

"Are we having a wayward orphan Christmas?"

The word orphan made his stomach turn but he ignored it easily. "Can we?"

"Yes, if that's what you want," Carrie laughed. "Now take your son so I can finish dinner."

Angel grabbed Joey from Carrie and kissed her cheek. "I love you, mami," he whispered into her ear.

Carrie smiled and nodded. "You too." She smacked his butt with a wooden spoon and laughed. "But you need to get that ass out of the kitchen."

—


	21. Chapter 21

Sitting behind Kevin's desk, Carrie snooped through his computer. She could hear Coco, Gilly, and Angel in the other room ribbing each other while she skimmed emails and past calendar appointments. She didn't know why she wanted to read it all, at least not in the forefront of her mind, but subconsciously she missed him deeply.

"You're faking," Gilly hollered loudly. "You can take more than that light shit."

"Nah man, it fucking hurts," Coco said ardently. "Shit ain't no joke. How bout I shoot you in the fucking arm?"

"Shut up, man," Angel chided.

She smirked to herself, their constant bickering and jabs were, usually, amusing, and she needed a little chuckle right then. Just as she was about to set everything up for Coco to miraculously find something in an email subject line caught her eye,

"Partial DNA match."

Hesitating for barely a second, Carrie clicked the email to find Kevin was still on the Galindo/EZ chain and his secure government emails were being forwarded directly to his personal account.

"Jesus Kevin," she sighed. "They would have roasted you for this shit if it got out."

Her eyes skimmed the email, nothing really interesting until the forensic results came up again. The reports from his murder were back and Carrie didn't once hesitate to try to read them.

"What we expected, Hispanic male, mid to late thirties, priors but no ID," Heimler wrote. The email also went out to Bowen and a few other names she didn't recognize. "Tons of print hits, the wife and cousins," names we never used in emails for confidentiality reasons, "As we expected, but some others we didn't, all known to the victim."

She immediately went through the prompts to attempt to read the full report but when she typed in Kevin's credentials she was instantly locked out. As was procedure, Kevin's login and credentials were deactivated.

"Of fucking course," she hissed. "It's done," Carrie whimpered. "You have to move on."

"Babe?" She heard Angel call out from the stairs. "You up here?"

"Uh yeah," she answered. "Just getting some pictures and stuff."

The door opened and he frowned, seeing her sullen expression. "You okay?"

"Yeah," she said with a huff. "Just, you know."

"I know," he nodded. "We were gonna hit this room next," he said. They shared a look and she nodded. "Just let me know when you're done."

"I will."

Carrie took another minute at the desk, overwhelmed by emotion, and let out a sob. It was a brief moment of weakness, one she indulged, but calmed herself and, after setting everything up, was out in the hall in just a few minutes. In her hands were a few frames, ones she truly did want to keep, when she yelled down to Angel.

"All done," she frowned.

"You wanna get outta here?" He asked her. "I know you got shit to do for Christmas."

"I don't know," she sighed. "I'm just really tired, I don't want to do shit."

As they were talking Gilly and Coco came up the steps, still joking with each other, and went right into the office.

"You should take a nap then," he said sweetly.

She felt too restless and anxious to nap but rather than be contrary she just nodded. "Yeah, I think I will."

Angel kissed her cheek and walked her down the steps. "I can pick Joey up when we're done here. Okay?"

"Thank you," she smiled. "Everything else goes. Goodwill pickup will be here at four o'clock."

"Yes, ma'am," Angel winked. He watched her drive away before heading back in the house and up the steps. Walking in the office he found Gilly and Coco huddled over the laptop, that was not what Angel expected them to be doing. That wasn't the plan.

"Yo," Coco said, "We got problems."

"What?" Angel walked around the back of the desk.

"I think I left prints," he said. Showing Angel the email, Coco huffed, his fidgeting fingers tapping the desk. "You think she saw this shit?"

"Nah," Angel lied. "Mid to late thirties Hispanic? Could be fucking anyone, and the prints," he shrugged, "I brought you up once for some dumb shit, I dunno. It's easy."

"Yeah," he groaned. "Found this shit too," he said. Handing Angel the forged case note Coco smiled a little. They looked at one another and nodded, not saying anything in front of Gilly, and Angel felt that weight lifted only to be replaced by the forensics.

"Let's get this shit outta here," Angel grumbled. "Too much fucking history."

\--

*A Few Days Later - Christmas*

Christmas morning lacked much of the usual hyper child behavior as Joey was still so young. They leisurely got up and went downstairs to have coffee before Joey even opened his eyes. Once he was awake they helped him open his presents, nothing too extravagant considering his age and the drama of the last few weeks, then Carrie made breakfast.

Swaying around the kitchen with big band Christmas classics playing through her Bluetooth speaker Carrie whipped up pancakes and eggs with some bacon and fresh orange juice. Angel watched from the doorway, loving how she looked in his T-shirt until she turned to find him gawking.

"Shit, you scared me!" She laughed, pressing her hand to her chest. "It's almost ready."

"Come here," he said to her.

"Lemme finish," she groaned. "Okay?" When Carrie turned she saw Angel grinning, holding mistletoe over his head. "You're a goddamn dork," she laughed.

"Dork or not, you gotta kiss me."

"I don't think that's how it works," she said. Carrie slowly walked across the kitchen.

"Does now." As soon as she was within reach Angel pulled her in and kissed her, pinning her against the wall. "Was that so hard?"

Carrie reached down and grabbed his crotch. "No, but this is."

"All I want for Christmas," he groaned into her ear.

"Speaking of," she beamed. "I know we said no gifts, with everything that's been going on and focusing on Joey, but I broke that rule."

"Of course you did," he rolled his eyes. "What is it?"

Carrie handed him a large envelope and, with a skeptical look at her, he opened it quickly. It didn't take long for him to see what the documents were.

"Petition for change of name," he read. "For Joey?"

"Yep." She wasn't exactly smiling, Carrie had such mixed emotions about the change, but she knew it was important to Angel. "Joseph Ignacio Reyes."

"Mi dulce," he sighed. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it," she said. Carrie meant it too. "Oh and this." Out of her apron pocket, she pulled a box, wrapped in deep red paper with a gold bow.

"Jesus," he huffed. Inside the box was a gold lighter with an inscription. It read, "You got a light?" Angel said it out loud and looked at her. "The first thing I ever said to you."

"Yep. Four words started this. Four words and 11 years later and now we have a son."

"I love it," Angel said. "Thank you."

"My pleasure," she smiled. "Come on, let's eat."

—

With Bishop, Coco, and Gilly in the living room and EZ in the dining room with Felipe, Carrie rushed around the kitchen with Angel wondering how he could help her.

"You can help by getting out of my way, babe," she said quickly. "Really. I'm good you're just always RIGHT where I need to be."

"You're not mad about Bish?" Angel asked her from the doorway on the way out.

"No," she laughed. "Everyone's got complicated family shit, I get it, I'm just glad I can brown nose a little bit with him."

"You don't have to do that shit," he told her. "Seriously."

"I want to. I'm a pleaser."

A playful grin spread across his face. "I know."

"Pig. Now go."

Angel stopped in the dining room to see Felipe and EZ in a serious discussion. He noticed they stopped as soon as he entered the room.

"What?" He asked

"Pop's pissed," EZ said plainly.

"What now?" Angle huffed.

He was hoping to see him and Carrie in a functioning relationship would please his father but he was sour, to say the least. Felipe didn't like how they came to be a couple, he didn't like the years of lies and the mess their love created. He loved Carrie, she was the mother of his grandson and she'd done what she could in an attempt to help his sons but Felipe was still disgusted and frustrated over the entire situation.

"I'm just waiting for this Jimenez mess to end."

"It's done, Pop," Angel said earnestly.

"I hope," Felipe shook his head. "I want you all to be safe." He reached up and tickled Joey, who was on Angel's hip.

"What about being happy?" Angel asked.

"Can't be happy if you're not safe," Felipe said sagely.

"Can we not do this?" EZ interrupted. "It's Christmas. We can pretend to be safe AND happy."

"I'm happy," Angel said, "And my family is safe."

Felipe thought of Marisol, how thrilled she would be to see Angel in love, with a son and another child on the way, and so he smothered his negative feelings. He stood and embraced Angel, his firstborn. "I am happy for you and I love you and your family, mijo."

"Thanks, Pop," Angel said. "I love you too." His watery eyes gave away how much the words touched him even if Felipe was still uncomfortable with the origins of Angel's new life. "You wanna have a beer with us?" Angel gestured to the living room but his father shook his head.

"I'm too old for that group," he joked.

Angel and EZ knew it was more than that but Angel wasn't going to stir anything else up. He nodded and joined the others.

"Gimmie that baby," Bishop said with a grin. "I love kids."

"You probably got some floating around out there," Coco joked.

"Kid's that aren't mine," Bishop corrected himself. He lifted Joey up over his head holding him out as if he were flying, and the child laughed maniacally. "How do you not love that?"

"I want kids," Gilly said.

"Not me," Coco groaned.

Bishop continued to play with Joey while they chatted casually. It wasn't long before he fell asleep on his father's chest though.

"What's the deal with the next run?" Angel asked, speaking quietly.

"I don't have the route yet," Bishop told him. "Nothing out of the ordinary though."

"And Galindo said everything's good?"

Bishop nodded. "It's settled. How's she?"

"She's good at pretending," Angel said. "She's hurting but she won't tell me."

"You blame her?" Coco blurted out.

"Come on, man," Gilly said quickly.

"He's right," Angel agreed. "She's good with this," he touched his Mayans MC tattoo, "You don't have to worry about that shit. She's just working shit out up here," he said as he tapped his head.

"Dinner's ready," Carrie called out to them. "Grab a seat and eat!"

Dinner was hectic and loud, but everyone seemed full and, more importantly, satisfied by the end of the meal. EZ and Angel cleared the table and, not surprisingly, Bishop and Felipe were the first to leave.

Bishop flattered Carrie, buttering her up as he did with most women and gave her a hug and kiss but Felipe was much more subdued. He thanked her for the invite and gave her a hug but she followed him out onto the porch.

"I'm sorry." She said sadly.

"I am too."

"I never wanted any of it to be like this. I wanted Angel. I wanted this but, Christ, at what cost?"

"Can't go back now," Felipe said advised her from his own experience. "Go forward. Do right by them both."

She knew what he meant or at least what she thought he meant. "Merry Christmas, Felipe."

"Merry Christmas, mija," he said. When they hugged again Felipe spoke. "Marisol would be very happy you ended up with our Angel."

"That means a lot," she whispered. "Thank you."

When Carrie reappeared she found the rest of her guests relaxing on the couch with beers. She carefully moved Joey into his crib before joining them.

"So why'd Bish run out?"

Angel shrugged. "You know."

"Uh, no I don't," Carrie laughed. "That's why I asked."

"He's hitting something," Coco chuckled.

"Shit you seen her?" Angel asked eagerly. "I thought something was up."

"Nah," Coco said, disappointed. "But I can see it in his eyes."

"You're full of shit," EZ laughed.

"Like that time you almost blew off Carrie's head?" Angle reminded them. "Said she was coming after you."

"Hey man," Coco said defensively, "I was all fucked up from the war. The fucking birds were after me."

"Oh my god," Carrie laughed. "You scared the shit out of me. You really thought I was gonna hurt you?"

"Even the birds were gonna hurt him," Angel told her.

"What about your old man?" Coco asked. "Why'd he dip?"

"He only came to be nice," Angel huffed. "I don't think he wanted to spend his whole Christmas with a bunch of bikers."

Carrie frowned, feeling bad for Angel and the situation he was in with his father, but kept her mouth shut. It wasn't her place to comment especially not in front of anyone else.

"Anyone want coffee?" Carrie offered but they all shook their heads. "Anyone want more alcohol?" That question got a round of yeses so she ran to grab fresh bottles for them all. "Gentlemen, I hope you don't mind but I'm going to bed." Carrie cradled her growing bump. "I forgot how exhausting pregnancy is."

There was a chorus of good nights and thank yous, as well as a sweet kiss from Angel before Carrie made her to their bedroom. She didn't even want to wash her makeup off, she was too exhausted. Crashing on the mattress she passed out within minutes and slept right through until Angel came to bed.

"Hey," he whispered. "Gilly passed out on the couch don't let him scare you in the morning."

"Okay," she mumbled sleepily.

"Oh babe," he said quietly. "I got you something too."

"What?" She rolled over still half asleep. "You're doing this right now?"

"Yeah," he laughed. "It was my mother's. It's called a Dos Pesos bracelet."

Carrie sat up and looked at the gift, deeply touched by the meaning, and hugged him before even putting it on. "I love it."

"Really?"

"Yes!" She beamed. "Did you ask your dad to bring it to dinner?" Carrie asked ashe he clipped it on her wrist.

"I did," he laughed. "You caught me."

"I love you," she sighed dreamily. "So, all these gold coins add up to two pesos, I'm assuming?"

"You're the accountant," he joked.

"Really, thank you. I love it."

"Good." He laid down and pulled her to rest her head on his shoulder.

"So, how was it?"

"Christmas?" He asked.

"Yeah."

Angel smiled in the darkness. "Best Christmas ever, amada mia."


	22. Chapter 22

The holidays were over. It was a new year and Carrie had hoped to put all their sadness and pain behind her and focus on the good in her life. She was, officially, back to work full time despite her growing belly meaning she'd be off again in a matter of months, but it felt good to be a normal, productive member of society again.

Strolling off the elevator, Carrie waved at her supervisor "Hey Mick," she said cheerfully.

"Oh, hey, Carrie," Mick said quickly. "You've been moved."

"Moved?" Carrie stopped and looked at Michaela with surprise. "What do you mean?"

"Renno," she explained. "They're redoing the whole south side of the floor so we put you in the empty office on the opposite end of the hall."

Carrie was relieved. "Hmm okay. That's the bigger one with the window, right?"

"That's the one."

"Guess this new year is looking up, huh?"

"Only for a few weeks, but yeah," Mick laughed. "There wasn't much in your desk, I packed it up for you though. Hope you don't mind."

"Nah, it's fine," she said. "Thanks for the good news."

Getting herself some coffee, Carrie took her time setting her new desk up and even snapped a selfie by the window in her office. She sent it to Angel with a joke about having the corner office, with a window, before actually settling into work.

Her phone went off not long after with a text back from Angel. "My sugar momma."

"You wish."

"You good?" He asked her, knowing she was excited, but nervous, that morning before she left.

"I'm good, thanks. Will you be home for dinner?"

"Yeah, I'll be there."

"Be careful today. I love you."

"Love you too."

Carrie worked on through the rest of the morning not noticing how much time had passed until her stomach started to rumble. Grabbing her purse and locking her office door she was about to head to lunch when Heimler appeared at the other end of the hall.

"This can't be good."

"You got a minute?"

Carrie huffed and nodded. "I'm hungry. Come on, we'll get lunch. Your treat."

Heimler chuckled and nodded, following her back out the way he came. Carrie already knew where she was going for lunch. Lately, Chinese had been her go to and those cravings were not stopping. They were seated at the booth in the back, Heimler facing the door as he always did.

"Kevin, Angel, you," she huffed. "You guys all have to face the door."

"I would say it's a law enforcement thing but," he shrugged.

"One those things doesn't belong?" She joked coolly.

"You switched teams," he frowned.

"It's not about teams," she groaned. "It's about being happy."

"And are you?"

"I am," she smiled a little. "It still feels, wrong though, I feel so guilty and, it sounds crazy, but I miss Kevin."

"It's not crazy," he assured her. "It's not like you two split up and you just don't see him anymore. He's dead. He's gone. Forever."

"Alright," she whimpered. "That's enough of that."

"Sorry," he sighed. "I miss him too."

Carrie nodded, sipping her water awkwardly, before pushing on with the conversation. "So what's this about? You didn't come by randomly. Is this official or friendly?"

"Little bit of both," Heimler chuckled. "I know you had your private service for Kevin, just family, but we wanted to have something, the agents."

"Oh," she sighed heavily. "You scared me."

"Nah, it's nothing like that. We were going to wait till we had the guy but, that doesn't look like it's going to happen anytime soon."

"Fucking cartel," she huffed. "Think you'll ever get them?"

"We hope and we're not shelving the case but it's pretty fucking cold."

Nodding, Carrie sucked in her bottom lip and bit down a little. "He deserves better."

"He did," Heimler said vaguely. "Anyway, I was hoping we could uh, heh, borrow his remains?"

"Oh," Carrie snickered. "His urn. For the service?"

"Yeah," Heimler laughed.

"Of course," she agreed. "I can drop him off?"

"I'll come by," he offered. "I'll swing by before and after, door to door service."

Carrie nodded. "This is kind of weird, isn't it?"

"A little bit," he admitted. "How are we supposed to talk about him? I'm having a hard time."

Shaking her head, Carrie let out a groan. "I have no idea. I try to be casual about it, jokey, to keep from getting all upset but then it sounds gross and cavalier."

"At least we're having the same problem," he sighed with a tiny smile.

"Yeah, at least," she rolled her eyes.

They chatted amicably through lunch and said short goodbyes knowing they'd see each other again soon.

By the end of her day, Carrie knew Angel would not be home for dinner. When he text her he didn't even know when he'd be home but things were 'popping off', as he put it, and he needed to be with the club. So, she did as she normally would when Angel, and previously Kevin, weren't home for dinner. After putting Joey to bed she cooked as she had planned, just so he had something to eat when he got home from an undoubtedly crazy day. She then ordered take out, cracked open a bottle of wine, and binged a few episodes of whatever show she was into. This particular evening though she had root beer, instead of alcohol, for obvious reasons.

Carrie's curiosity was piqued when she heard a Harley in the driveway. Glancing at the clock she smiled a little. "Earlier than I thought," she said excitedly. When she swung open the door hoping to see Angel she was terribly disappointed. In his place stood Lincoln Potter.

"Good evening, Mrs. Jimenez."

"What do you want?" She snapped.

"How was your lunch with Agent Santiago Heimler?"

She inhaled sharply and glared at him with her hands on her hips. "You following him or me?"

Lincoln chuckled. "Little birdies are everywhere."

"Fuck you."

"Will you be joining us at the memorial service for your husband?" He asked quickly, his amusement gone in a flash.

Carrie rolled her jaw, her hands instinctively moving to her stomach. "I uhh, I don't know. I thought it was strictly for agents and work friends."

"You were his wife," he said, "The mother of his child."

Carrie rolled her eyes and tensed, annoyed by him in every way. "What do you want?" She snarled.

His lips smacked as he opened his mouth, the corners curled in a slight grin. "I saw someone used Agent Jimenez's login information to attempt to access the Drug Enforcement Agency's internal system."

Carrie swallowed hard but remained silent.

"As soon as he was pronounced dead his clearances were all revoked," Potter explained. "Standard procedure."

"Safety first," she said sarcastically.

"Indeed," he nodded. "It's easy to get them back though," he snapped his fingers, "Almost as easy as sending informants out into the world free and clear."

They shared a look and Carrie knew exactly what he was saying. "What is this? Seriously? Why are you playing all these fucking games?"

"Because, Mrs. Jimenez," he said sharply, "That's all this is. You played games with Kevin, Kevin played games with EZ and the Cartel," his eyebrows arched for a second, "Well, clearly, they played deadly games with your family. Now, fate is playing the cruelest game. Little Joseph Ignacio, soon to be, Reyes isn't Kevin's child but, knowing how life works, I'm going to guess that little bundle of joy is his daughter."

"Fuck you," Carrie spat. "Did you get my fucking test results?!"

"The information was easy enough to gather, you are still under Kevin's federal insurance plan."

"I didn't even get those results back yet," she snapped.

"I'm sorry I ruined the surprise," he said in an indifferent and apathetic tone. "Blood typing and DNA is truly a fascinating science."

"You need to leave," she growled. "Kevin is dead. EZ isn't beholden to you. You have no business with me, my family or the Mayans."

He smiled, eerie and calm, before clapping his hands once and turning away from her.

"It was a pleasure," he said. "I'm sure the login mixup will be fixed in twenty-four hours, no need to worry about someone getting into the system and snooping around."

"Fuck off," Carrie replied. "Don't come back around here."

Remaining in the doorway until he was gone from sight, Carrie concentrated on her breathing in an attempt to lower her blood pressure and heart rate. She turned on her heel and slammed the door so hard the windows shook.

"Creepy motherfucker!"

Once the rage subsided she thought more and more about what Potter said. She knew what he was hinting at and she knew he had his own game but her curiosity made it impossible not to do exactly what he needed her to. Carrie grabbed her phone off the table and called EZ as she slid her shoes on.

"Hey," he answered quickly. "What's up?"

"Hey, E, where are you?"

"The clubhouse. Everything okay?"

"Oh, yeah," she forced a casual laugh. "Angel there?"

"No, he's on his way back to you," EZ told her. "Should be there by now, actually."

Carrie was annoyed by the terrible timing but didn't let on. "Oh good, I was kind of worried but didn't want to bother him. Everything okay?"

EZ hesitated, making a face she'd instantly recognize as worrisome, but he didn't sound as upset as he looked. "Just a long day."

"Oh, here he is," she sighed. "Thanks. Get some sleep, you sound exhausted." Carrie tossed her phone on the couch and got to the door just as Angel slid his key into the lock. Opening the door before he could turn the knob she greeted him with a sweet smile. "Hey," she said quietly.

"You're still up," he looked relieved.

"I was about to get into bed," she told him.

Carrie watched as he tossed his keys by hers on the entryway table and hung his kutte on the hook a few feet away. He loved what she'd done since moving in, making the house a real home, filling it with love and creature comforts, and cleaning more in the weeks that she'd been there than he ever had.

"Sorry," he groaned. "Today was...bad."

She studied his expression with concern, he was unsettled, disturbed even, and any thoughts of digging Kevin's work computer out of storage were completely forgotten. Carrie noticed the lines in Angel's face were deeper and the bags under his eyes more pronounced, his skin was sticky with sweat and caked with dirt. She even noticed some bruises, scrapes and a few spots of dried blood from wounds that looked like he'd been in one nasty brawl.

"Talk to me," she said to him.

"I just," he shook his head. "I'm hungry and tired."

Carrie smiled a little. "I can fix that, I put a platter away for you. Let me heat it up. Sit," she ordered him. "Beer?"

"Something harder," he replied. Sitting in his spot at the table he watched as she scurried around the kitchen and a small, sad smile replaced his frown. "How are you?"

"Fine," she said dismissively. "Tired but, that's kind of par for the pregnant course."

When she approached him with a beer and a glass of whiskey he gently caressed her bump. "And how is mi corazón?"

Carrie smiled wide. "Good. Oh," she said excitedly. "I'll be right back."

Taking the time to down his drink, Angel tried to calm his brain. Between Adelita, the still smoldering bodies they stumbled upon in the square and knock down fight at the dog kennel, he was spiraling. Coming home to Carrie helped but he couldn't shake his despair and, frankly, his fears.

While his dinner was warming up, Carrie jumped onto her personal laptop and logged into her OBGYN's medical portal to see her test results were received by the office and available for her to view. She didn't tell Angel she'd done the prenatal genetic testing for two reasons, one more virtuous than the other. Unless he changed his mind and wanted to know, she would not tell him the baby's biological father but she did want to surprise him with the baby's gender.

Skimming the scientific jargon she couldn't interpret herself, Carrie came to the very simple to read gender results. "He wasn't bluffing," she whispered to herself. "It is a girl."

The results stirred up the nasty negative feelings from Potter's visit but she knew once she saw Angel's face light up they would swiftly cast aside. When she returned to the dining room she saw he hadn't moved from his spot but his whiskey had certainly been touched.

"What's up?" He asked, looking at her excited expression.

"I have a surprise for you."

Angel smirked. "You gonna let me put it in your b-"

"Don't even finish that thought," she laughed despite her grimace. "I had that noninvasive genetic screening done and the results are in."

"Wait, really?"

"Yeah," she clapped her hands. "You wanna know?"

"Yes!" He pulled her down to sit on his lap. "Tell me, Car."

"We're having a girl," she whispered.

Angel looked at her tiny bump and smiled dreamily. Leaning over to kiss her belly he whispered to the baby in a voice even Carrie couldn't hear. "Mi niña preciosa."

"You're in trouble," Carrie told him. She ran her fingers through his hair and scratched his scalp in a tiny circular pattern. "Our little princess is gonna have you wrapped around her finger."

Glancing up at her he nodded, one hand on her belly and the other on her neck, feeling her pulse beat steadily. "Mi reina y mi princesa," he said.

"I swear, you do it just to tease me."

He smirked but played innocent. "Do what?"

"Speak Spanish," she giggled. "I adore every single Spanish word that comes from those lips."

"Te adoro, mi amor," he said with a wink.

"Evil," she moaned. "You should eat," she added quickly. Standing up, she ran to grab his dinner before sitting across from him.

"Go to bed," he told her. "I'll be there in a minute. I just need to, uh, decompress. You know?"

Carrie knew something was weighing heavily on him. "Okay." She got up and kissed his cheek as she passed the table on the way to the bedroom. While she waited for him in bed she could hear his clunky heavy footsteps as he moved around the house.

She was just dozing when he came into the bedroom in boxer briefs and a sleeveless undershirt after showering. Once he was beside her she moved over to lay on him, her head on his shoulder and hand on his chest.

"Talk to me," she said quietly.

"I'm scared," he admitted.

Carrie hated to hear it but she loved that he could say it to her. "Of what?"

He held her a little tighter. "Shit blowing up in my face, the cartel, the rebels, you getting hurt, Joey," his voice wavered. "Today was a bad day, Car."

"Tell me," she pleaded. The continued use of that phrase, 'bad day', was starting to terrify her.

"You don't want to know, trust me."

"I do," she lied. "Telling me will help you, I promise."

Angel sighed and closed his eyes. "Galindo burned a man and his son alive." He sounded so ashamed but Carrie couldn't figure out why or how. "He tortured the father first, they wanted information on the rebels, information I coulda given him, but if I did," he shook his head.

"People would get hurt."

"People did get hurt," he corrected her.

"People you love would get hurt," she rephrased.

"Sometimes I think I can't see the greater good anymore."

Carrie had no idea what he was talking about but the clear toll it was taking just on Angel mentally and emotionally terrified her.

"You'll find it again," she mumbled.

Really, she had no idea what to say to ease his fears especially since she was so horrified by what Galindo had done. She was on Miguel's pew just months before and she could have been that innocent person burned to death but she was loved by someone who could and did, save her.

"I hope," he said.

Carrie nestled closer to him. "I'm sorry. I wish I could say something that would help."

"There's nothing to say," he huffed.

"Can I ask what happened?" Carrie leaned on her elbow and surveyed the damage to his face using the light from her reading lamp. "Couple cuts and bruises, something that looks like rug burn," she remarked. Her fingers traced the red lines along his neck. "Jesus, Angel. What happened?"

"Fight at a kennel," he chuckled. "Guy choked me with a pink dog leash."

Carrie tried to keep from smiling but failed miserably. "That's kind of hot. We should pick a safe word and try it out one night."

"Oh, but I can't joke about anal?"

"No," she giggled. His face seemed to relax a bit, her fingers running along his jaw and down his neck to his clavicle. "Doesn't it feel better to talk about it?"

"I don't want to scare you," he admitted.

"I can handle it," she said. Carrie crawled on top of him, her legs on either side, and Angel ran his hands up her thighs rubbing and massaging her flesh. "I'm not doing the whole secret thing. After everything we've been through to get where we are, I can't do it. I want to know everything."

An instant replay of the moment Angel shot Kevin in the head ran through his mind as he looked up at Carrie. "Yeah, no secrets."

Rolling off him again, Carrie groaned. "I'm so tired."

"Heh, me too," he commiserated. "Tomorrow, just me and you, we'll talk and I'll lay everything out. Okay?"

Carrie groaned again. "Just hit me with it as it comes. Easier to process that way."

"Yeah, it probably is easier that way," he sighed. Angel pulled her closer and kissed her softly. "Get some sleep, babe. I need to try to clear my head."

Angel grabbed his jeans and headed out to sit on the porch with a beer and a cigarette. He kicked his feet up on the small table Carrie bought for that very reason. Guilt weighed heavily on Angel, guilt over Kevin, the innocents being hurt and killed because of the ongoing war with Galindo and lying to his club.

"I gotta get this shit together," Angel grunted.

"Angel," Carrie said from the doorway.

He jumped a bit, looking back at her with a startled and confused expression. "What?"

"We have to talk," she said sadly. "I'm sorry, I know it's not a good time for you but I can't sit on this. No secrets, right?"

Angel's heart sank but he nodded and got up from the chair. "Alright. Let's talk."

Carrie spoke with a shaky voice as she and Angel sat together in bed, cross-legged, facing each other. "I don't know how much you know about him, he was sniffing around after Kevin was killed and it was so crazy, I barely remember the details," she explained. "So, I guess I'll just start from the beginning." She inhaled slowly and, as if he would know his name was being spoken, whispered quietly to Angel.

"His name is Lincoln Potter..."

She then outlined every meeting they had, all unplanned and used to manipulate her, all the hints he so blatantly laid out and, most importantly, the email and Potter's his comments about Kevin's DEA login credentials.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you," she said shamefully.

"Fuck." He quickly swung his legs over the side of the bed and paced the length of their bedroom. "FUCK!"

"Angel," she said quietly, "Joey's sleeping."

"Sorry," he grumbled. "This is bad, Car."

"Tell me something I don't already know," she hissed.

"I don't know how to get in front of this shit."

"I'm sorry, Angel." She knelt and slid over to the edge of the mattress.

"This ain't you," he sighed heavily. "You can't snoop around in that shit, you know. He's setting you up."

She closed her eyes and balled her fists while her curiosity battled her pride. "I know but it's killing me. There's something, even if he's setting me up, there is still SOMETHING in that report."

"Baby," Angel shushed her. He moved toward the bed again, cupping her face in his hands as she knelt before him on the mattress. "Everything that happened that night only happened to keep you and our son safe. If it wasn't Kevin, it woulda been you with a bullet in your head."

Carrie began to cry, meeting his intense and even somewhat creepy stare, and nodded. She knew that look, those eyes, he was concerned and he was angry and Carrie had to trust and accept what he was telling her.

"Okay," she stammered. "I won't."

"Mi buena chica," he said lovingly.

"What do you know?" She asked, surprising him with the question.

"What?" He stepped back from her a bit.

"About Kevin's murder," she said. "The way you were talking made it sound like there's something you're keeping from me."

Angel sighed, looking away from her and shook his head. "You don't wanna know."

"I do," she said earnestly. "No secrets."

"Coco was there," Angel huffed quickly without thinking. "Any blood they found that's not yours or Kevin's has to be his. He got hurt."

"His arm," she said in disbelief. "Kevin...Kevin shot him."

"Car," he said on the verge of tears. "I'm sorry."

"Why? Why did Galindo want Kevin dead?" She was angry now, her hands balled into tiny fists. "He didn't know Kevin was a threat. Kevin WASNT a threat."

"Yes, he was," Angel snapped. "He was investigating the cartel, Carrie. If Galindo knew it or not he was still a real threat and if the club didn't take care of it, Galindo was going to kill you."

"The Mayans killed Kevin?" She asked him point blank. "Coco?"

"I'm sorry," he said.

"I lied to protect you guys," she snapped. "It would have been nice to know Coco was bleeding all over my fucking house!" Carrie's voice slowly rose to a scream and seconds later they heard Joey began to cry over the monitor. "Great. Fucking great." Carrie stormed out of the room to get the baby.

"Carrie," he called after her.

"You lied," she growled at him. "I put myself on the fucking line for you and EZ, to keep the DEA from looking at you as OBVIOUS suspects. You risked me going to jail, Angel! Coco, some cartel goon, a random criminal, it doesn't matter WHO killed Kevin. The truth is he's only dead because of us, because of me."

"He's not dead because of you." Angel hurried down the hall after her. "You didn't do this."

"Stop. Please," she whimpered. "I'm really pissed off. I took a giant risk and you let me, knowing that I had bad information, knowing Coco bled in my house."

"I didn't know what you were gonna do," he said defensively.

"I asked you what happened," she glared at him. "You knew I was planning something."

"I didn't think yo-"

"Angel Reyes didn't think! I. Am. Shocked." Carrie mocked him harshly. "You never think."

The insult was cruel and Carrie knew it. She could see how it cut him, working on his insecurities, and instantly regretted it.

"I'm sorry," she said quickly.

"Nah, you're right," he said shamefully. "Lemme get him." Angel walked passed her and into the baby's room. "Get some sleep."

"I can't," she said. Following him into the room she watched as he picked up Joey and sat back in the glider. "Tell me the whole timeline."

Angel closed his eyes, Joey's little face on his shoulder as he rocked back and forth slowly.

"After he had you on the pew I had to talk to Bish and Alvarez," Angel explained in a whisper. "I don't know how much Galindo told them, I don't know if he found out about the DEA's investigation. He told Alvarez though, Kevin had to go. He wanted to sever all ties, make sure there was no direct line in case shit went south. If Kevin got pissed about me or if we split and you wanted revenge you had an instant in."

Carrie covered her face and cried quietly as he continued.

"Also wanted to test me, I think," he scoffed a little. "Make sure I was willing to protect the club and him any way I had to. I asked Bish what happened if I didn't go along with it, if I refused," Angel shook his head. "It was him or you and that wasn't even a question for me." He heard her quiet cries and felt himself begin to silently break down. "I didn't want to, Carrie, not even just cause it would hurt you I just didn't want to. I don't like killing people, seeing it, having to...give my blessing...or some shit."

"It's your life," she said ruefully. "I'm sorry that you had to make that decision even if it was passive. I can see now how it's affected you." She spoke calmly, slightly monotone, as the information sunk in.

Carrie moved from the corner of the room toward the glider, she was more in shock than actually accepting the truth. She had to make sense of it all but she knew Angel and she trusted every word he told her. "The risks are similar but with Kevin it was forms and chain of command and agent protection. With you, it's...not."

"I'm sorry, amada mia," he whispered. His hand rested gingerly on her stomach. "I don't think you can hate me more than I hate myself."

Carrie shook her head slowly. Bending over she kissed his forehead and assured Angel of her love for him. "I could never hate you." Her legs wobbled beneath her and she gripped the chair rail for support as she dropped to her knees.

"What's wrong?" Angel asked urgently.

"It's nothing," she stuttered. Carrie pressed her palm to her chest as a sudden and intense pounding in her ears and chest made it hard to breathe.

"Carrie." Angel laid the baby back down and got on his knees beside her. "Hey. What is it?"

"Just a panic attack," she said breathlessly.

"I'm calling an ambulance," he said. Racing to get his phone, Angel called 911 and tried his best to soothe her.

He remembered years ago a similar situation, they had almost been caught meeting up but scared him more now that she was pregnant.

"What about Joey?" She asked, her eyes shut tight as she tried to focus through a screaming headache and sharp chest pains.

Angel checked to see Joey hadn't woken up after he laid him back in his crib. "He's fine. Lemme call E, he'll stay with him."

Moments later the paramedics arrived and took Carrie out on a stretcher. The cops pulled up not long after, standard procedure, and Angel gave them a quick rundown of what happened while he waited for his brother. He hated watching them drive off with her but Angel couldn't leave Joey and he knew she was in the best hands possible.

—

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyy! I'm gonna ask you guys to comment. Pleaseeee! Hope you enjoy the chapter! 
> 
> I also started an instagram, just stupid fan stuff and chapter aesthetic/clothing/whatever. Give me a follow there I'm PBB_Writer!


	23. Chapter 23

When Angel arrived at the hospital Carrie was already being admitted for an overnight stay. Checking in with the front desk receptionist, Angel was directed to a smaller waiting room where, moments later, the on-call OB found him. His stomach churned, concern for the baby and Carrie sending him into a mini panic.

"Mr. Reyes?"

"That's me," he said eagerly. "How is she?"

"Carrie and the baby look perfect," the doctor explained.

Angel smiled and nodded. "Okay, so, what's going on?"

"Carrie's blood pressure is high, very high, which is never good but being pregnant it's more concerning," he explained.

"Shit," Angel hissed quietly. He knew any stress she was under was directly because of his actions and it crushed him. "I want to keep her for observation, hopefully no longer than about twenty-four hours. We have to be sure her pressure drops and doesn't randomly spike again."

"Yeah," he agreed, "Yeah of course. Can I see her?"

"The nurses are getting her hooked up to the monitors now," the doctor said. "One of them will come to grab you when she's settled."

Angel shook the doctor's hand. "Thanks."

"My pleasure," he said. "I'll be back in a few hours to check on her during rounds."

Taking a seat, Angel text EZ and Bishop to fill them in on the current situation. The former was already asleep on the couch at Angel and Carrie's while Bishop was with the other club members at Vicki's.

"Are you here for Ms. Jimenez?" An older redheaded nurse asked Angel. There wasn't another soul around them but she still spoke in a hushed tone.

"Yeah," he said quickly.

"Come with me," she said sweetly.

"Thanks," he said, slightly skittish.

"Is this your first?" The woman had already asked Carrie but it was an easy and pleasant way to create some comfort between them as she would be caring for Carrie during her short stay.

"No, we have another one, a little boy." The nurse could clearly hear the pride in his voice.

"How sweet," she said with a smile. "She's right in here."

"Thank you," he muttered.

Angel quickly as he hurried into the room. He saw Carrie pouting in the bed, as cute as she looked it made his heart sink. "Hey, you okay?" He immediately kissed her, looking into her eyes to make sure she wasn't about to break down.

"I'm fucking exhausted," Carrie sighed. "EZ with Joey?"

"Yeah, I let Bish know you're in here," Angel told her.

"Good," she grabbed his hand, "You're mine tonight."

"Always yours," he promised her. "Car, about earlier," Angel started.

"Can we not?" She asked him.

Angel huffed. "I think we should, I think we need to clear this up."

"Do I want to know?" Carrie asked him, her eyes locked onto his and full of fear. "Do I want to know what you know? Do I want to know who killed Kevin? Will it bring me peace? Will it change anything?"

"No," he sighed heavily. "No." It might though, it could drastically change both of their lives but he wouldn't say that he couldn't, it would be too obvious.

"Then it's done," Carrie said regretfully. "I trust that what happened to Kevin was to protect me, Joey and this baby. I have to trust that because if I don't, if I think this was strictly because I couldn't stay away from you, the guilt will kill me. I don't want to know about it but I don't have to like it either."

Angel nodded although he was slightly confused by her charged statements. "Alright." Sitting down in the chair beside her bed, Angel's head was swimming in angry, negative thoughts. "Shit, I'm fucking hungry."

"Go get something," she told him. "The doctor gave me something to help me calm down and it's making sleepy. I'll probably be knocked out soon anyway."

"I'll be back." He said earnestly. "I'm not going anywhere, sleeping or not."

Carrie nodded. "Okay. I love you."

Kissing her cheek, Angel's lips lingered a bit longer than usual. "I love you too, mi dulce."

When he left the room Angel followed the signs until he got to the cafeteria. He wasn't really hungry, he was looking for an escape but even without her eyes on him, he couldn't shake the guilt.

"I gotta fucking tell her," Angel uttered to himself.

"Tell her what, Angel?"

Angel looked up to see Potter leaning over him. "What the fuck are you doing here?"

"I heard of a domestic disturbance call involving my favorite young couple," he said mockingly but still deadpan. "And so I wanted to check on a friend of the federal government."

Standing up, squaring his shoulders, and staring threateningly at him, Angel shook his head. "Fuck. You."

"That's what I get for my concern?"

"You don't give a shit about Carrie," Angel growled. "What the fuck do you even care about?"

Potter smirked. "Winning."

"I can't help you with that." Angel turned to walk away but he saw a security guard standing a few feet away with Agent Bowen, Kevin's boss. Facing Potter again, Angel huffed. "What is this?"

"I have a plan in place but I fear there may be variables I cannot yet see," Potter explained.

"You can see more than me," he grumbled. Angel's phone rang and he shook his head, annoyed by the horribly timed call.

Gesturing to Angel's pocket, Potter urged him. "Pease, answer."

"What's up?" Angel answered the call quickly, knowing it had to be important if they were calling him then, but never taking his eyes from Potter's.

"Must be riveting," Potter remarked to no one.

As Coco went on, Angel's expression changed. "Yeah, I'll be out there as soon as I can." Shoving his phone back in his pocket, Angel went to move by him but Potter blocked his exit. "I gotta go."

"Club emergency?"

"Ya, Coco's got his dick stuck an exhaust pipe," Angel said sharply.

"Nothing with Los Olvidados?"

Angel tensed. "Stay the fuck away from my family."

When he moved to walk away again, he wasn't stopped. Angel charged through the hospital back to Carrie's room to find she was still awake.

"That was quick," she said with surprise.

"Nothing looked good," he lied. "Car, listen, baby, I-"

"You killed Kevin?" She asked him, stone-faced and calm.

Angel stepped back. "What?"

"Just say it," she whimpered. "Please, if you did it, just say it."

"Yeah," his voice cracked. "I did."

Looking away from him as she began to cry, Carrie nodded. "Thank you for telling me."

"How did you," he stammered, "How did you know?"

She scoffed. "I know you, Angel. I...suspected it, I could feel the weight of something between us. It was easy to pretend you didn't actually do it but things started to fit and when I found out Coco was there," Carrie's chin trembled. "You and Coco are best friends, closer than any two men I've seen, he wouldn't have been there without you and vice versa."

"Amada mia," Angel cried, "I'm sorry. I didn't want to, I didn't wanna kill him, I didn't want to lie to you." He pleaded, leaning over the foot of the bed with his hands on her calves. "I never killed anyone like that, for no reason, it made me sick."

Carrie shook her head. "Angel," she sighed.

"Bish got word from Alvarez and Galindo's asshole crew," he didn't let her speak. "I had to do it."

"I understand," she said coolly.

"I nev," he stopped and looked at her, "You understand?"

Carrie nodded but wouldn't look at him. "As you said, Galindo told you it had to be him or me," she whimpered. "If I were in your shoes I can see that there wasn't really a choice."

Angel nodded. "Yeah. There wasn't."

"I need to get some sleep," she said. "You should go home and be with Joey."

"I uh, Coco uh actually called," he told her. "Shooting out at Vicki's we got roped into. I gotta go out there."

"Be careful," she told him. "Please."

"I will." Angel looked at her, unsure if he should kiss her goodbye, and decided just to shoot her a crooked smile before disappearing out the door.

\--

Coco's call came not long after the gunshots rang out but by the time Angel arrived they were ready to roll out to meet with Pena. Bishop looked at Angel with confusion.

"Everything okay?" He asked. "Thought you were tied up?"

"Yeah, it all good," Angel huffed. "She's alright and the baby's fine. I can't help there but I can help here."

Bishop nodded, grateful for the extra set of hands, and they left Vicki's for the crime scene. While Bishop was chatting with Pena, Coco and Angel were talking quietly about more personal matters.

"She good?" Coco asked, raising his cigarette to his lips.

"Yeah," he huffed. "She freaked out. Shit about Kevin and the club. She knows it wasn't the cartel," Angel whispered. "I think I gotta tell her." Even though he was well past thinking about it, Angel was reluctant to tell Coco he had actually told her.

Coco shook his head. "She's gonna cut your fuckin' head off. Gonna start callin' her the Black Widow," he laughed.

"Glad you think it's funny," he sneered.

"You're the one talking about telling her you killed her fucking husband," Coco hissed. "You got it good, now brother. Got your girl, your kid and one coming, don't fuck it up."

"That's me, man, always the goddamn fuck up," Angel huffed. "Don't matter, she knows and I'm alive," he said smugly.

"You told her?" Coco sneered. "What the fuck is wrong with you?"

The conversation was halted as Bishop approached them. Angel buttoned up, playing casual and calm, and took his direction from his President. They were off to Alice Reed's for a tense conversation but Angel would much rather go face to face with her than Carrie at that moment.

—

Hours later, newly bruised and filthy, Angel returned to the hospital to visit with Carrie. When he walked into the room it was evident Joey had been there. Little handprints were on the window and his pacifier was on the side table.

"Hey." He said quietly, sitting in the chair by her bed and fiddling with Joey's pacifier.

Carrie looked up from her phone. "Hi."

"How you doing?"

"I'm bored," she huffed. "I asked E to bring my work laptop but he refused."

Angel smiled. "Good."

"He said he didn't want you to kick his ass."

"You getting out soon?" Angel asked eager to keep silences from creeping up.

Carrie shook her head. "I don't know. My blood pressure is still kind of high, not as high as last night but higher than normal."

"Baby, you gotta relax," Angel said sadly.

"I'm trying," she whimpered. "Potter was by after you left to help the club."

He grimaced and got to his feet again.

"Don't Angel," Carrie chided.

"What did he say?"

"He just verbally danced around his point but I was too tired to pay attention," she huffed. Wiping her tiny tears, she sniffled and looked at him. "I just want this to be over, Angel.

"Me too," he admitted. "Soon. E is clear and this shit with Galindo is gonna settle down and-"

"Angel," she interrupted. "Are there any other threats or secrets?"

"No," he said quickly. "Potter say that shit to you?"

"He said secrets are dangerous, I know you're keeping things," she admitted. "I didn't want to ask. I want as much space between me and that stuff as possible but with Joey and the baby, Angel, I don't have that luxury."

"What did he say?"

"I think he's just trying to scare me now," Carrie admitted. Sitting up, she huffed and pressed the call button.

"What are you doing?"

"Going home."

"Car, you can't."

"Me being here isn't going to do anything but stressing me out even more," she complained. Taking off the blood pressure cuff and pulse ox, she swung her legs over the side of the bed.

"It's like a vacation," he tried to convince her.

Carrie scoffed. "I got nurses coming in every few hours, Potter stirring up shit, beeps and bloops from these monitors and the shitty food, this place is making me goddamn crazy."

Angel smiled at that and nodded. "If that's what you want I'm not gonna try to stop you."

"Smart move," she said harshly. "Everything okay? That shit earlier?"

"Yeah," he huffed. "Someone's trying to move scripts."

"Ah," she nodded. "Can't have that," Carrie said sarcastically.

"I have to head back out," he told her. "I'll get you home and settled but then me and E gotta go."

"Dangerous?"

Angel thought back on the stack of Kevlar vests and all the guns they were preparing when he left but he shook his head. "Nah, it's nothing." The nurse finally stepped in the room and Angel saw that as his out. "I'll go get the truck and come back to get you, okay?"

"Yeah," she smiled anxiously. "I'll see you soon."

"Are you sure?" The nurse said quietly. "Maybe staying another night would be best?"

"No," Carrie shook her head. "I need to get the hell out of here."

—

The evening was dangerous and bloody, but when Angel returned home he thankfully didn't have to answer any questions. Showering off the blood, dirt, and sand from the day's work helped him unwind and feel more ready for sleep than earlier.

"Babe?" He whispered, strolling in their room still naked from the shower. Carrie wasn't in bed and he panicked, not that she was hurt but that she'd left him sometime during the night.

Racing out of their room, he burst into Joey's nursery to find the boy snoring quietly in his crib with Carrie asleep in the rocking chair. He let out a tiny sob, the terror he felt in that brief moment was too intense to simply fade away.

Angel leaned over the crib rail and gently touched his son's cheek. "Mi pequeño sol," he whispered. Joey was the light of his life, which was why he had taken to calling him his sun, rather than simply mijo.

He glanced over at Carrie and wondered if he could easily carry her into bed but he was too anxious to try. She was pregnant and the rocker made it awkward to try to scoop her up quickly. Tapping her arm softly, he leaned in close. "Hey," he whispered. "Babe?"

"Mm?" She moved her head a bit.

"Come on, let me take you to bed." Angel tried to grab her arm but she waved him away.

"I'm fine," she mumbled sleepily. "Are you hurt?" She asked, blindly reaching out to stroke his face.

"No, we're all good," he assured her. "You sure you wanna stay?"

"Mm-hmm," she said. "Just leave me, I'm fine."

Angel kissed her cheek but instead of leaving, he lingered in the doorway watching Carrie and Joey for a few minutes. He wondered if she was too sleepy to move or if she was looking for space after their conversation in the hospital. When he left her at home earlier she seemed okay, not as angry or hurt as he'd ever expected but now he was worried.

Had Carrie been awake enough to talk to Angel she wouldn't know what to say. She was enraged by what he had done, by the lies, and she hated him for having to do it, and herself for not being a good wife, remaining faithful and saving Kevin's life. That was why she fell asleep in the rocker, it wasn't as telling as sleeping on the couch but it gave her what she needed, to be away from Angel while processing what he told her. She knew deep down that he was the one that pulled the trigger but hearing it, having it confirmed, was a whole different emotion.

Waking with a start the next morning, Angel rolled over only to be disappointed that Carrie hadn't joined him during the night. He stretched, glancing in the monitor to see Carrie and Joey were still sleeping when he heard a sound from the living room.

Angel quietly got out of bed, pulled his pants on, and crept out of the bedroom with his gun. His sleepy brain was only confused for a minute until Cole, the dangerous prison shot-caller EZ recognized the day before, stepped out of the kitchen.

"Heard you were looking for me, Angel Ignacio Reyes."

"Not here," Angel whispered.

"Cause of your little family?" Cole asked as he gestured to the hallway. "Saw them already. Put the gun down, we'll talk and I'll be outta here before they wake up."

Hesitantly, Angel lowered his gun and sat. They talked, careful to keep their cards close to the chest but knowing they had to trust each other if they were going to make their deal work. Cole offered more money than they were asking for but he wanted more in return as well. Angel agreed, reluctantly, to help smuggle a friend through the tunnel before the cocaine would actually trade hands.

"We got a deal," Cole said with a nod. "I'll be in touch."

—


	24. Chapter 24

It wasn't very long after Angel managed to get Cole, the big bad shot caller friend of Alice Reed, out of the house that Carrie woke up. Angel almost felt more anxious seeing her than he did seeing Cole.

"Hey," he said cautiously.

"Hi," she stifled a yawn. "You're up early."

"Couldn't sleep," he shrugged. As she approached him he smiled, hugging her and caressing her stomach. "Mis chicas," he said lovingly. "How're you feeling?"

With a quick shrug, Carrie shimmied away from him and stuck her head in the fridge. "I'm hungry and I need some coffee."

"Me too," he said quickly. "I gotta get out to the yard though. You good?"

"Yeah," she said, finally smiling at him, "I'm taking a sick day."

"Good idea," he said supportively. Angel was relieved to hear she'd be taking care of herself and resting instead of going to work.

"Long day, you think?" Carrie asked casually.

Angel frowned and shrugged. "I don't think so. I gotta head over to the other side but I'm not staying."

Carrie nodded as she poured herself a boring bowl of cereal. With her back to Angel, Carrie huffed and called out to him as she heard him moving further away from her.

"Angel," she sighed. "Wait."

His bare feet stopped slapping against the tile floor when she spoke again. "What's up?"

"I love you," she told him. "Even with all this tension between us, the uncertainty, I love you."

Angel hurried over to her and hugged her, his arms around her waist and his hands resting on her stomach. "Thank you. I love you too."

"I know," she smiled. "I think that's the one thing I'm most certain of." Leaning her head back on his chest she closed her eyes. "This is nice," she whispered.

"I don't want to leave," he complained.

"Can we just stand here?"

"Sorry, Car," he groaned.

"Cuddle date," she told him, "Tonight, after dinner, I want a big, long hug."

Angel looked down at her with a playful grin. "A big, long hug?"

"Hey, if your dick isn't I want something that's big and long." Carrie stuck her tongue out and laughed, highly amused by her own joke.

In response, Angel kissed her neck, sucking gently on her flesh as his hands moved down to the elastic of her shorts. His thumbs slipped under, inching them down slowly, but Carrie grabbed his hands.

"We can't do it here," she groaned.

"What? Why?"

"You can't bend me over the counter," she reminded him, "Ya know, cause of the baby."

Angel felt like a moron. "Sorry."

"Oh no, you're still gonna fuck me," she grabbed his hand, "Just not here." Carrie pulled him toward the bedroom and Angel happily hurried behind her with a smirk.

\--

Carrie managed to keep herself distracted during the day. She took Joey out for a walk then bought clothes for the new baby, spending too much but not caring in the slightest, and then made dinner. It wasn't until the sun had long set that she grew nervous. The few times she text Angel in the morning he responded, although it took longer than usual, but that stopped around noon.

After about nine hours of no contact, Carrie called EZ but he didn't answer, she tried again a few minutes later but still nothing. There was a far too familiar sick feeling in her stomach and she felt her chest grow hot as the panic began to set in.

"Alright, bud," she huffed, "We're going to find Daddy."

Packing up Joey's bag she dragged the poor child out of the house and into the car to take the drive to the clubhouse. She was anxious, for Angel and EZ, but also because she didn't know the club members that well. What if they thought she was being ridiculous or overreacting? It didn't matter. She had a bad feeling and she was going to check it out.

Not recognizing her car, Riz came out from the gate to see who was coming in so late. The window rolled down and Riz laughed, slapping his hand on the door.

"Hey!"

"Hi," Carrie frowned. "I'm looking for Angel."

Riz's face fell. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

She nodded. "I'm fine, I'm just worried that he's not okay."

Nodding, Riz pushed open the gate and waved her in. As she parked, he headed in to grab Bishop before coming back out to help her.

"Thank you," she said. Carrie handed Riz the car seat carrier, Joey sleeping peacefully inside, and they walked into the clubhouse together.

"Querida," Bishop said, greeting Carrie with a kiss on the cheek, "Angel's not here, we haven't seen him all day."

"All day?" She asked with surprise. "Oh, I uh, I'm sorry I thought he was here earlier."

Bishop's face turned dark. "He hasn't been here since around lunch. What makes you think something's wrong?"

"He's just not answering," she admitted embarrassedly. "He said he'd be home early but I haven't even heard from him in hours, EZ isn't answering either." Carrie sighed and bit down nervously on her lower lip. "Am I being crazy? I'm sorry if I'm overreacting."

"No," Bishop huffed. "You're not."

Carrie nodded. "Thank you."

Waving off her words, Bishop was already making moves to find Angel. "Call Gilly," he barked angrily at Riz, "I'm gonna try Coco."

"Can I do anything?" Carrie asked timidly.

"No, just try to relax," he said firmly. "We don't want to find Angel just to tell him you're back in the hospital."

Nodding, Carrie tried to calm herself down but seeing the club was concerned as well only made her even more upset.

—

When Coco got the call from Bishop he was meeting with EZ, just over the border. Coco climbed into the truck and looked expectantly at the prospect.

"What the hell happened?" He asked as the truck started again.

"Federales," he huffed. "They got to the Iraqi Angel was supposed to bring through and... now they have both of them."

Coco shook his head. "Bish called. Carrie's looking for Angel."

"Shit," EZ hissed. "Now he knows we've been gone for hours."

"We gotta figure this shit out," Coco complained.

"First we have to get Angel back," EZ said harshly. "We'll figure out shit with the club when he's safe."

"Alright," he huffed. "I'll call Adelita."

—

When the round of phone calls turned up no information on Angel, Carrie really started to freak out. It was nearing sunrise when she started to feel the same throbbing headache and shortness of breath as before.

"I..I have to go."

"Hey," Taza spoke softly. "I think you should stay right here."

Carrie shook her head. "It's my blood pressure. I shouldn't have left the hospital. I...I should go back, something doesn't feel right." When she stood up her vision went black and her legs gave way beneath her. It was pure luck that Taza was so close, close enough to catch her, and ease her back into the chair.

"Ambulance. Now." Bishop barked. "I'm meeting with Pena to see what she find out. I want updates as soon as possible."

—

Angel walked out of the house with EZ and Coco in a near state of shock. Adelita came, saved his hide and her own, before killing the men who had taken them all hostage.

"Don't do that again," Adelita said. She grabbed his face and pressed her lips to his for a long moment before promptly leaving the area.

"You better not do that again," Coco teased.

Angel shook his head, still taking it all in before his little brother brought him crashing back to reality.

"The club is looking for us," EZ said.

"What?" Angel snapped. "Why?"

"Uh, you left a pregnant chick at home with your kid and went MIA, carnal," Coco reminded him. "She turned up at the clubhouse around midnight."

"Fuck," Angel snapped loudly.

"I got an idea," Coco said suddenly.

"I'll take anything," Angel pleased. "What is it?"

"You came over, got rolled and locked up by dirty cops for cash. Now you're out," Coco shrugged. "Shit ain't even a whole lie."

Angel and EZ looked at each other and shrugged. They had no other ideas, it fit and there was no paper trail for an arrest if it was dirty.

"We gotta look like we took a beatin'," Angel told EZ. "Let's go, little brother."

Coco didn't believe they were actually going fight until Angel threw the first punch and sent EZ staggering back. He chuckled, never one to miss a fight, and stayed to watch as he sent Bishop a quick text.

"Found them. Got picked up on the other side. I'm on my way with cash."

It took a few minutes but Bishop did respond and t was not what Coco wanted to see.

"Good. Get him out and right back to the hospital. Carrie was admitted again. Riz has the baby at Vicki's."

Looking up at the brothers, Coco put his phone away and quickly broke up the fight. Grabbing Angel, he pushed EZ back away from them.

"That's enough," Coco said. "Shit, what the fuck is wrong with you?"

There was much more tension between Angel and EZ than anyone knew, even themselves. Everything that happened with Kevin and the surrounding drama of their lives distracted them from the severe schism in their relationship. Now it was back in the forefront and even stronger than before.

"Got a little carried away," EZ huffed.

"Speakin' of," Coco huffed, "Carrie's back in the hospital, Angel. You gotta get back."

"Is she okay?" He asked, grabbing Coco and hurrying toward the truck. "What happened? Where's Joey?"

"Dunno how she is but Joey's with Vicki," he said quickly. "I told Bish I was gonna get your asses out and he said to take you right back up there."

"Let's go. Now."

—

They had to take their time to make Coco's story believable so Carrie was asleep when Angel finally arrived at the hospital. He whimpered, relieved to be back safe, to see Carrie was in good care and their daughter's heart beating on the monitor. He was able to get his bearings by the time Bishop arrived.

"Jesus," Bish grimaced. "They fucked you up."

"We were dumb," Angel huffed. "I think E got it worse though."

"No more of that shit," Bishop chided. "No one knew where you were, you're lucky they didn't get the money and kill all three of you idiots."

Angel nodded, embarrassed and ashamed expression on his face. "Won't do it again."

"Take care of her," Bishop advised him. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Again Angel nodded as Bishop left and when he turned around again he saw Carrie was awake. "Hey," he said breathlessly. "You okay?"

"I'm okay," she stifled a yawn. "Where's the baby?" Carrie said, fully waking up and realizing her son was not in the room.

"It's okay," Angel said quickly. "Joey's with Riz." Purposely leaving out where he was with their child, Angel sat beside her bed. "I'm sorry, Car. I'm so sorry."

"What happened?" She ran her fingers over the bruising. "Are you okay? I was so scared, Angel."

"I'm good," he chuckled nervously.

Carrie smiled. "Okay, that's great Angel and I'm so glad but I kind of need to know where you were. You were gone, for like forty-eight hours."

As if the exact timing really mattered, Angel looked at the clock, and actually attempted to correct her. "Well, it's more like-"

"Stop." She snapped.

Angel pursed his lips and nodded, scratching his neck awkwardly, before jumping up to his feet to check the hallway. There was no one there, except for one nurse a few feet away, so he felt it was safe to explain his mess to Carrie.

"The rebels," he sighed, "Los Olvidados, I've been helping more than you know. I've been looking to unload 6 keys for them, they need the money. I found a buyer but he needed me to do something for him, build the trust," he huffed.

Carrie looked at him through squinted eyes. "And what was that?"

"An Iraqi, some translator, needed to come over through the tunnels. When I went to get him the Mexican feds were there. They took me, sent E for cash, and uh, here I am."

Gasping, Carrie looked away from him covered her mouth as her chin began to tremble. "And, no one knows," she whispered.

"Gilly, Coco and E," he said shamefully. "That's why the club couldn't help. We made up some shit, kicked each other's asses," he gestured to his face, "But it's all good now."

"No, it's not," she inhaled sharply. "You can't go around doing this shit, Angel. This is so dangerous, it's so stupid," she scolded him. "I support you and the club because you're careful and you have each other's backs, there's a system and protections and it's a family, but this shit with the rebels it's...it's just bad."

"It's okay," he assured her. "I'll be more careful next time, amada mia, I swear."

"No," she shook her head. "Angel, you can't help them anymore. I get it, their desperate, they need help, but if something happens to you, what happens to us?" Carrie rubbed her stomach protectively. "I've waited too long to be with you and we have been through too much for you to risk anything for them. Besides, if the club found out," her voice cracked, "You have to stop."

Looking at her like a deer in the headlights, Angel slowly began to nod. She made sense and she wasn't wrong. Before it never really mattered but that changed so quickly. He realized that what Coco said before was right, he had his girl, finally, and a beautiful, growing family.

"You're right," he said quietly. "It's more than just me now," he said, placing his hand on her stomach, "I gotta remember that."

"Yeah, you do," she nodded. "I can't raise Joseph Ignacio and Marisol Rose all by myself if something happens to you."

"Marisol?" Angel asked, drawing his head back.

Carrie bit her lip and nodded. "I thought we could call her Mari, you know, if you like it."

"After my mom," he said sadly. "I love it."

"I love you," she said, smiling broadly.

Leaning in he kissed her, sweet and passionate, and let his lips linger on hers. "I love you too." They sat quietly for a while but he couldn't slow his brain down. "I'm just gonna hand it off, if they wanna keep helping that's fine, I still think it's better for the club, move forward, but I can't steer that shit anymore."

"Good, thank you," she beamed. "So, who won the fight?"

"Oh, baby, me, of course," he chuckled. "I kicked his ass, he deserved it."

"Angel," she chided.

"You talk about cutting ties with the rebels, shit, I wanna cut ties with E. It keeps coming back up, creeping in my head," Angel was about to cry, "He's my baby brother, I love him, I don't know what to do about it."

Carrie moved over and made a space for him in the bed. "You don't have to do anything tonight. Sleep with me, please."

Climbing in beside her, Angel fell asleep easily after what he'd just gone through. Carrie was happy to have him there, safe and with her, even if she was uncomfortable and barely able to sleep the entire evening. It was worth it.

—

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyyyy. Vote/comment please!  Thank you so damn much for your time and feedback. Check out my new Mayans story called From A to Z ! Have a great weekend xoxo


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